SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, July 15: The Congress, which is part of the Jharkhand Government in coalition with the JMM and the RJD, remains mute to the JMM decision to support NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu.
This is the second time the JMM has snubbed the Congress in Jharkhand on major issues. Earlier, it had got its own nominee Mahua Maji elected in the Rajya Sabha election, despite, as the Congress claimed, having promised to field a ‘consensus’ candidate.
Congress State president Rajesh Thakur, when asked, played a diplomat and said that every party is free to take its political decision. “We had formed a coalition to fight assembly elections and run a stable government and nothing else,” he said.
Thakur, however, said that the JMM was a party to the Opposition decision to field Yashwant Sinha for the President’s post. “Yet the JMM has changed its stand and supported Droupadi Murmu,” he said, adding there might have been some compulsions.
“There is nothing wrong if a party takes a political decision keeping its own constituency in mind,” he added. “I also don’t think anything wrong about how he bent to welcome the Prime Minister. It is part of his manners. Didn’t he touch Congress MLA Deepika Pandey’s feet after she expressed her anger after the Rajya Sabha elections? It does not mean that he surrendered to the Congress,” he argued.
Thakur’s assertions apart, the Congress is watching cautiously how Chief Minister Hemant Soren, facing various corruption cases, played a good boy in publicly welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Deoghar.
Congress insiders say that the JMM is certainly drifting to the BJP as the circumstances have changed in the recent months after the ED investigations and corruption cases being faced by the Chief Minister and his associates.
“We are not upset with the JMM supporting Droupadi Murmu as it was expected. When a large and strong party like the BJP is playing on tribal sentiments, the JMM could not have ignored it. But there is a trend in the country where the MLAs are under the scanner of the central probe agencies and it is nothing surprising if they shift their loyalty to save their skin,” said a Congress leader requesting anonymity.
To cite an example, he pointed out that the ED is investigating even a ‘small tender FIR’ in Sahibganj in which Congress minister Alamgir Alam is one of the accused.
The leader also said that the party feels safe if the JMM joins hands with the BJP to run the government and fight the next elections. In that case, it will not poach our MLAs, he added. “We will be in a position to remind the voters of the remarks used by Hemant Soren in targeting Narendra Modi and why he has joined hands with the BJP,” he added.
“Also, Hemant Soren should not forget that the electorates, particularly tribals, had given him a massive mandate with 30 seats in its kitty against the BJP in 2019. But we can’t react to his overtures to the BJP as the Congress is passing through a bad phase in the country,” said a Congress MLA.
“So, the Congress is keeping a tab on the JMM move, but will not precipitate the situation. Let the JMM take the first step to desert the coalition government,” he added.
Incidentally, the Chief Minister has been treating the support of the Congress as a guarantee since the beginning. He also did not give any special attention to Avinas Pande, the high profile in-charge of the state.
To create pressure, Pande had instructed the Congress MLAs not to talk directly to the CM, but this pressure also did not work. He has not yet appointed heads of various boards and corporations despite a vociferous demand from the Congress.
The Chief Minister constituted a coordination committee after almost two and half years after much hue and cry.
It is being said that many Congress MLAs are in touch with the Chief Minister and are preparing to fight the next election on Jharkhand Mukti Morcha ticket. Some MLAs are in touch with the BJP and will fight the election on the lotus symbol.
In such a situation, Congress will be left with nothing. Due to the compulsion of the Congress to carry the palanquin of the government, there is a possibility of a big loss to the party.