 "JMM-led alliance 'strong', no threat to coalition govt: Jharkhand CM Soren")
The JMM-led alliance in Jharkhand is "strong" and there is no threat to the coalition government in the state, Chief Minister Champai Soren said on Sunday, amid reports of resentment brewing among a section of Congress legislators over the induction of four party MLAs as ministers.
Soren, who is in the national capital, made the remarks before meeting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
After meeting Kharge, he told reporters that it was a courtesy meeting with the Congress president after taking charge as the chief minister.
On a section of Congress MLAs being disgruntled over the recent cabinet formation, Soren said it was the internal matter of the Congress.
In a post on X after his meeting with Soren, Kharge said, "Today, along with Jharkhand Chief Minister Shri Champai Soren ji and leaders of Jharkhand Congress, we again resolved to fight the dictatorial government (Centre)." "We will continue our journey of progressiveness, public welfare and social justice in Jharkhand," Kharge said.
Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur, AICC general secretary in-charge of the state Ghulam Ahmad Mir and Pranav Jha, among others, were present during Soren's meeting with Kharge.
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Asked about the meeting, Mir also told reporters that it was a courtesy call.
Asked about the section of disgruntled Congress MLAs being in Delhi, Mir said they did not have any problem with the government but had some specific issues, some related to their respective constituencies, which they would raise with the party leadership and sort out.
Earlier in the morning, Soren said, "There's no issue, our alliance is strong." On being asked about disgruntled Congress MLAs reaching Delhi, he had told reporters, "This is an internal matter of the Congress, they will resolve it. I have nothing to say about that. There is no conflict between the JMM and Congress, and everything is absolutely fine." As many as 12 MLAs of the Congress have threatened to boycott the upcoming state assembly session from February 23 and head to Jaipur if the ministers are not replaced with new faces.
The JMM-led alliance in the state has 47 MLAs (JMM-29, Congress-17 and one RJD) in the 81-member assembly.
Unhappy with the Congress' decision to give ministerial berths to Alamgir Alam, Rameshwar Oraon, Banna Gupta and Badal Patralekh again, the disgruntled section of Congress legislators went into a huddle Saturday at a Ranchi hotel, where JMM's new minister Basant Soren, the youngest son of party supremo Shibu Soren, reached to persuade them to change their decision.
"There is no confusion...we are all united," Basant Soren said after meeting the MLAs.