RANCHI: The three Congress MLAs Irfan Ansari, Naman Bixal Kongari and Rajesh Kachhap were arrested with cash by West Bengal police on Sunday on the basis of an FIR filed by Bormo MLA Kumar Jaimangal for trying to topple the Hemant Soren-led government in Jharkhand. Jaimangal accused the three legislators for allegedly luring other MLAs by offering Rs10 crore each and a ministerial berth to help the BJP form a government in the state.
“Rajesh Kachchap and Naman Bixal Kongari were asking me to come to Kolkata and were offering money, promising Rs10 crore per MLA. Ifran Ansari and Rajesh Kachchap wanted to take me to Guwahati from Kolkata where according to them a meeting was fixed with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma,” Jaimangal stated in his FIR.
Jaimangal lodged the FIR under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Representation of People’s Act along with the Prevention of Corruption Act at the Argora police station in Ranchi on Sunday. Jharkhand Congress chief Rajesh Thakur accompanied Jaimangal for lodging the FIR.
Jaimangal said Irfan assured him that Sarma was doing it with the blessings of the top BJP leadership. Irfan also told him that he would get the money once he reaches Guwahati and make promises before Sarma, alleged Jaimangal.
“I don’t want to be a part of this unconstitutional, unethical criminal activity, hence informing you to take action against them, who are stationed in Kolkata with token amount and putting pressure on me to come to Kolkata and accompany them to Guwahati,” Jaimangal said in his FIR.
The Congress suspended the three MLAs -- Irfan Ansari from Jamtara, Rajesh Kachhap from Khijri and Naman Bixal Kongari from Kolebira from the party with immediate effect. The Jharkhand Congress is likely to lodge a formal complaint with Assembly Speaker, seeking their dismissal for alleged anti-party activities.
BJP, however, blamed the entire Congress leadership for making Jharkhand a “den of corruption”.
Himanta said he continues to be in touch with Congress leaders because of his long association with the party, downplaying charges of his involvement in a ploy to topple the JMM-led Jharkhand government.
Past not perfect of the MLAs
RANCHI: This is not the first time that Irfan Ansari has been accused of hatching a conspiracy to topple the Jharkhand government. His name surfaced over the issue in July last year as well, when the police arrested Abhishek Kumar Dubey, Amit Singh and Niwaran Prasad for allegedly conspiring to destabilise the JMM-led alliance government.
The trio had claimed that Ansari, with two other MLAs, had gone to Delhi with them on July 15, 2021, where they met BJP leaders, and Ansari and 10 MLAs were promised Rs 1 crore each along with ministerial berths for defecting. Since the advance sum was not given to them, they returned to Ranchi, they claimed. Recently, Ansari posted a video against his own government, showing illegal mining being done in Godda. Insiders say Ansari is angry for not getting a Cabinet berth.
Meanwhile, Naman Bixal Kongari had claimed last year that he was offered huge sums for defecting, but he refused. The third MLA, Rajesh Kacchap, has never been in controversy but is said to be unhappy with some ministers.