Trouble in Jharkhand alliance? Congress alleges neglect by CM Soren, warns against attempts to damage party

The sooner Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren becomes serious about the JMM-Congress coalition, the better it will be for the government, a senior Congress leader said.

The ups and downs that the Congress faced within the Maharashtra coalition now appear to have infiltrated Jharkhand with leaders of the grand old party going public with their concerns of being neglected in the ruling alliance led by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). A senior Congress leader, without naming the JMM, said that no one should live under the illusion that they can run the government without the party’s support. Amid reports of a rift in the alliance, the Congress leadership has called 25 Jharkhand party leaders to Delhi for a meeting.

The Jharkhand assembly has 81 seats and the majority mark is 42. The ruling alliance consists of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). While the JMM has 30 MLAs, the Congress has 18 and the RJD, 1 legislator. The Congress has four ministers in the coalition government.

“No one should be under the illusion that they can run the government alone,” Congress’ Jharkhand in-charge Avinash Pandey said, adding that any malicious attempt to harm the Congress will not be tolerated.

“We are committed to keeping the Jharkhand government stable, but if some government or party works maliciously against Congress, then we will not tolerate it. The sooner Hemant Soren becomes serious about the coalition, the better it will be for the government.”

The state president, all four working presidents, four ministers in the Jharkhand government from Congress, all former state presidents and presidents of some wings will attend the meeting chaired by Pandey. The presence of Rahul Gandhi in the meeting is still not confirmed.

While Pandey said that this meeting has been called to decide the roadmap for strengthening the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a discussion on the JMM-Congress alliance is expected to feature prominently during the meeting.