Jharkhand Congress leaders summoned to Delhi for meeting; rift in alliance with JMM?

Hinting toward a possible rift between the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress, the grand old party on Monday summoned all its state leaders to New Delhi for a meeting. According to Jharkhand Congress chief Rajesh Thakur, 4 ministers in the Jharkhand government, all former state presidents and presidents of some wings have been summoned by the party high command to the national capital. The meeting is expected to be conducted at the party headquarters on Tuesday, April 5.

"Jharkhand Congress leaders have been called to Delhi for a meeting on April 5. State Congress president, 4 ministers in Jharkhand government from Congress quota, all former state presidents and presidents of some wings will attend; meeting likely at party HQ," Jharkhand Congress chief Rajesh Thakur told news agency ANI.

According to sources, the meeting is taking place over an alleged tussle with respect to the JMM-Congress alliance's Common Minimum Programme (CMP). Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren has reportedly refused to respond to Congress' draft proposal on the CMP and the formation of a coordination committee, which was sent on March 7. 

CM Soren accuses BJP of conspiring to topple Jharkhand government

The development also comes days after CM Soren hit out at the opposition and alleged that the BJP was actively trying to topple his government. During his 1.5-hour-long speech in the assembly, CM Soren lashed out at the saffron party for using social media and TV channels to 'spread lies' and asserted that he would not tolerate the Opposition's attempt to destabilise his government.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Jharkhand coalition has been in troubled waters for months now. Earlier in January last year, when senior leader RPN Singh's entry into the BJP came as a massive jolt to the Congress, sources had informed Republic that Congress MLAs were happy with his exit. For more than a year, RPN Singh, who served as the AICC Jharkhand in-charge, was trying to overthrow the Congress-JMM administration in the state by colluding with the BJP, the MLAs alleged. 

In 2019, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) formed the government in the state with 47 seats. In the 81-member assembly, JMM has 30 MLAs, Congress has 18 and the RJD 1.