VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, Aug 18: Jharkhand Assembly Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto on Thursday postponed his proposed Canada visit where he had to attend five days of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).
Rabindra Nath Mahto, heading a three men delegation consisting of JMM MLA from Maghjaon Niral Purty and Ajsu Party’s Gomia MLA Lambodar Mahto, was supposed to catch Delhi bound flight on Thursday. From Delhi they had to catch the flight for Canada where the CPA programme is scheduled from August 22 to 26 at Halifax.
However, Lambodar Mahto reached Delhi but Rabindra Nath Mahto and Niral Purty postponed their programme.
The last minute postponement is bound to trigger speculations at a time when the Hemant Soren government is facing formidable challenges and the fate of the membership of the chief minister is hanging in balance.
“He had some prior engagements in his assembly constituency; besides, his wife is not keeping well. Jharkhand is facing a drought like situation. Hence considering such factors he decided to postpone the programme. But Lambodar Mahto has not changed his programme,” an official of the assembly said. The fate of Lambodar Mahto is not clear whether he will be now allowed to visit Canada. If he visits Canada whether or not he will be treated as representative of Jharkhand, since, the head of the delegation and a member have abstained.
But insiders said that postponement sounded very unusual to them. “CPA programme was finalized many months back and rounds of meetings were also held at the assembly regarding the participation of the state. Attending such a programme on the foreign soil involves a lot of official processes, clearance and many others. Reasons listed for postponement don’t sound convincing,” highly placed sources confided.
Notably, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has completed hearing of the office of the profit case of Chief Minister Hemant Soren and the ECI directed Hemant Soren to submit his submissions latest by August 18. The judgment of this case is expected very soon.
