Jharkhand: Congress MLAs 'Unhappy' With State Cabinet Expansion; Threaten To Boycott Assembly Session

A section of Congress legislators in Jharkhand has expressed dissatisfaction over the induction of four party MLAs as ministers in the Champai Soren-led JMM government.

As many as 12 Congress MLAs have threatened to boycott the upcoming assembly session from 23 February and head to Jaipur if the ministers are not replaced by new faces.

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Eight of the 12 disgruntled MLAs reached Delhi last evening to lodge their protest before the party high command over the induction of four party MLAs in the Champai Soren government.

Eight of these disgruntled MLAs traveled to Delhi last evening to voice their concerns to the party high command regarding the decision to induct four party MLAs into the Champai Soren government.

The JMM-led alliance in the state has 47 MLAs (JMM has 29, Congress has 17 and RJD has one) in the 81-member assembly.

Expressing dissatisfaction with the Congress' choice of Alamgir Alam, Rameshwar Oraon, Banna Gupta, and Badal Patralekh for ministerial roles once again, the legislators deliberated at Ranchi Circuit House before the swearing-in ceremony on Friday (16 February), contemplating a boycott.

However, under the persuasion of Jharkhand Congress leaders Ghulam Ahmed Mir and Rajesh Thakur, the MLAs ultimately attended the ceremony at Raj Bhavan.

"We want replacement of all the four...We the 12 MLAs are together right now, barring the four ministers and Pradeep Yadav. We are waiting for the leadership to take a decision on our demand to change the four ministers," MLA Kumar Jaimangal said.

"We want a minister from each division to cover all the five divisions in the state. We also want implementation of the 'one person, one post' rule made by Rahul Gandhi," Jaimangal, alias Anup Singh, was quoted as saying by PTI.

The Bermo legislator said if they fail to hear anything from the party's state and central leaderships soon, they will be forced to fly to the Rajasthan capital and boycott the budget session of Jharkhand Assembly.

"The Congress has 17 MLAs and the JMM (29). The JMM has already taken the chief minister and the speaker's posts. They have six ministerial berths and we want the remaining one. We are not compromising on that. In case Alamgir Alam is retained, he should quit the post of the Congress Legislature Party leader," Jaimangal demanded.

In the Jharkhand Assembly, the BJP has 26 legislators, the AJSU Party has three, while the NCP and CPI (ML) have one lawmaker each, along with two Independents and a nominated member.

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