New Delhi: A section of Congress legislators in Jharkhand expressed their strong dissatisfaction over the inclusion of four party MLAs as ministers in the JMM government led by Champai Soren and flew to Delhi on Saturday evening. “We are on our way to Delhi. The rest will join us tomorrow…We will discuss the matter with the Congress leadership there…We demand that all the four be replaced…We are 12 MLAs in total except the four ministers and MLA Pradeep Yadav,” Congress legislator Kumar Jaimangal, also known as Anup Singh, told PTI.


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The legislators are unhappy with the Congress’ decision to reappoint Alamgir Alam, Rameshwar Oraon, Banna Gupta and Badal Patralekh as ministers and gathered at a hotel in Ranchi, where JMM’s new minister Basant Soren, the youngest son of party chief Shibu Soren, tried to convince them to reconsider their decision.



Congress MLA Dipika Pandey Singh said that they had conveyed their views before the cabinet expansion took place. “We wanted new faces to be given a chance if the government was being formed anew and the cabinet was being reshuffled,” Singh told ANI.


Congress MLA Anup Singh said that the MLAs had informed the Pradesh Congress Committee president about their grievance and their demand remained unchanged. “We are 12 in number. We have written a letter to our PCC president expressing our concern. Our demand is as it was before,” Anup Singh said. “Going to the oath ceremony does not mean that we have given up on our demands. We are only trying to make our party aware of our concerns,” he added.


Jharkhand Congress President Rajesh Thakur, who met the party MLAs after the oath-taking ceremony, said that the party would discuss the issue. “They had shared their feelings even before the oath-taking ceremony. They were unhappy, they went to the swearing-in ceremony at our request. We know their feelings. We will discuss it,” Thakur said. Meanwhile, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey lambasted the JMM-led alliance in the state for not having a Scheduled Caste member in the new cabinet.


Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren on Friday assigned portfolios to ministers, keeping the departments like home and personnel for himself. CM Soren retained the Department of Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Rajbhasha, Department of Home, Department of Cabinet Secretariat and Vigilance.


JMM leaders Mithilesh Kumar Thakur, Basant Soren - JMM leader and brother of former CM Hemant Soren, Hafizul Hasan, Bebi Devi, Deepak Birua, Congress’ Rameshwar Oraon, Banna Gupta and Badal Patralekh were sworn in as ministers during the swearing-in ceremony held at Raj Bhavan in Ranchi on Friday.


Earlier on February 2, Champai Soren took oath as chief minister of the state and on February 5, the coalition government passed the floor test with a 47:29 majority. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha with 29 seats, and its ally Congress with 17 were confident of easily winning the trust vote.