Jharkhand: Congress leaders skip coalition meet, dissatisfied with Soren government

The Congress MLAs refused to attend a meeting of UPA legislators invited by Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday at the CM's residence. The Congress, which is a member of the ruling coalition led by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, is dissatisfied with the administration on a number of topics, reported news agency ANI. The Rashtriya Janata Dal is the coalition's third member.

Meanwhile, MLAs from Congress attended a separate meeting at the residence of state minister and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Alamgir Alam. Pradeep Yadav, deputy leader of the CLP in the Assembly, told ANI, "CLP called a meeting of Congress legislators yesterday, but only a few members attended. A meeting was conducted once again, and this time it lasted quite a while. I'm not allowed to say anything else at this time."

Congress unhappy with Soren govt 

A verbal spat between party workers at Congress Bhawan in Ranchi earlier this year was yet another unpleasant episode for Congress. Images from the meeting show Congressman Alok Dubey yelling at a colleague, as other members of the party pulled him back in an attempt to calm the situation. Later, Dubey dismissed the squabble, adding, "It's an internal issue."

In July, Congress MLAs protested to the state party leadership about the administration's "non-cooperation" in their districts. Jharkhand Congress working president Rajesh Thakur had told them that their issues will be handled. The MLAs also stated that the ministers do not adequately address the concerns and challenges that they have mentioned. MLAs had demanded a meeting with senior officials. 

Deepika Pandey Singh, Mamta Devi, and Purnima Neeraj Singh, all members of the Congress Legislature Party, also expressed their dissatisfaction with Congress Legislature Party Leader Alamgir Alam. In July, Deepika Pandey Singh said, "One-and-a-half years of our tenure has already passed. There should be a common minimum programme in the coalition government so that everything can be monitored and coordinated properly. We are accountable towards our people and we have to go back to our areas. We are regularly raising issues that we feel are necessary. After the second wave of COVID-19, people have lost their patience and they need an answer from us. We met today to discuss all these things." Alamgir Alam had said that he promised the leaders that their issues would be brought to the Chief Minister's attention and that a proper conclusion would be reached.

(with inputs from ANI)

Image: PTI/Twitter-AlamgirAlam