RANCHI: Amid an internal rift within the Jharkhand Congress unit, five disgruntled party MLAs met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday and demanded a review of the ministerial berths allotted to the party.
The MLAs placed their grievances before the party chief, alleging that the Congress ministers in the state were not performing as expected.
According to the MLAs, the four ministers from the Congress quota have failed to deliver, leading to dissatisfaction among both party legislators and the public.
Coming out openly against the state leadership, the MLAs said, “All the four ministers from the Congress quota have failed to perform as people are not happy with them and hence other MLAs in the party should be given a chance.”
The MLAs, Rajesh Kachhap, Bhushan Bara, Naman Vixal Kongari, Sonaram Sinku and Suresh Baitha, first met state Congress in charge K Raju at Indira Bhavan.
They later held discussions with the party’s national general secretary and in charge of organisational affairs, KC Venugopal, on Thursday, before meeting Kharge on Friday.
After the meeting with Kharge, Congress legislative party deputy leader and MLA Rajesh Kachhap said the ministers must remember that they were no different from other legislators.
“The ministers must understand that they are just MLAs like us and not someone special,” he said.
MLA Suresh Baitha alleged that the ministers were not functioning effectively. “The four ministers are not working the way they should have worked,” Baitha said, adding that they were being sidelined by the ministers, who were allegedly unwilling even to meet them.
Kachhap further said that the disgruntled MLAs had risen through organisational work and grassroots politics.
“We did not become MLAs because we were sons of leaders or ministers. We understand the organisation’s concerns very well,” he said.
“As the deputy leader of the legislative party, if anyone approaches me with their grievances, I will always stand by them. My priority is our organisation,” Kachhap said, adding that a review of the ministers’ performance was necessary and that a reshuffle should take place if required.
MLA Naman Vixal Kongari, however, described the meetings as routine and said it was a normal visit by the MLAs.
Another disgruntled MLA, Suresh Baitha, reiterated the demand for a reshuffle, saying, “The ministers must understand that they are not the special ones and other MLAs in the party also have the capability to become ministers.”
Notably, several Congress MLAs are unhappy with the party high command’s decisions on ministerial appointments in Jharkhand. They have also raised concerns over the non formation of boards and corporations even a year after the formation of the government and demanded that these bodies be set up at the earliest.
According to party sources, there is significant resentment over Radha Krishna Kishore being given the crucial finance portfolio despite having joined the Congress after switching parties several times.
Congress MLAs are also reportedly unhappy over Shilpi Neha Tirkey being inducted as a minister under the ST quota.
There is also controversy surrounding the elevation of Irfan Ansari as a minister, as his name had earlier allegedly figured prominently in a plot to topple the Hemant Soren government.