Trouble in Jharkhand coalition ? CM Hemant Soren accused of sidelining Congress

The cricket matches were held in March, in which Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren had also participated. (File image)

Trouble is brewing in the ruling alliance in Jharkhand with Congress leaders accusing Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) president and chief minister Hemant Soren of sidelining the party in the state.

In a fresh sign of the rift within the alliance, the JMM, the senior alliance partner has reportedly dared the Congress to withdraw its support from the Hemant Soren-led state government.

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In the latest development, Congress general secretary Avinash Pandey has directed party MLAs not to meet chief minister Hemant Soren for the next two months, according to the reports. Pandey was annoyed after CM Soren didn’t meet him during his two-day visit to Jharkhand last week. Pandey's diktat, the report said, has prompted the JMM leadership to dare the Congress to withdraw its support to the alliance government.

The ruling alliance of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has 47 legislators in the 81-member assembly. While the JMM has 30 MLAs, the Congress has 18 and the RJD 1 legislator. The Congress has four ministers in the coalition government.

This is not the first time that CM Soren has faced criticism from its alliance partner. Congress leader and state health minister Banna Gupta, had in February alleged that the Congress was being sidelined under the Jharkhand JMM-led coalition government, Gupta had also accused the CM of trying to “politically finish” the party in the state.

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"We are running a coalition government and our position is like in the song 'jab manjhi hi naav duboye, use kaun bachaye (If the boatman wants the boat to sink, who will save those on board). If the CM wants our party to finish and take our support base, then what is the purpose of having a coalition government," Gupta said speaking at the Congress' three-day 'Chintan Shivir' on February 24. Congress MLA Deepika Pandey Singh also accused Soren of “taking all the credit” for work done in the state, during the event.

The trouble started brewing in the ruling alliance since January when Jharkhand Congress in-charge RPN Singh quit the party and joined the BJP, a move seen to have weakened the Congress’ position in the coalition government. The Congress had then appointed Avinash Pandey as general secretary in-charge for Jharkhand.

Pandey was earlier the general secretary in-charge of the party for Rajasthan, who was replaced with Ajay Maken, following the revolt by Sachin Pilot.