RANCHI: The Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) on Monday rued the fall of the party’s only government in south India at Puducherry and said BJP’s “operation lotus” will not be successful here.
On Monday, Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy resigned after he lost the vote of confidence on the floor of the House after a few of his MLAs defected to rival camps. While tendering his resignation, Narayanasamy had blamed BJP for the defections of his party MLAs to rival camps, including the saffron party.
State Congress president Rameshwar Oraon said, “What has happened in Puducherry is a very sad development. The situation in Jharkhand is, however, different. We, as an alliance, have only grown stronger since we took charge in 2019. After winning two bypolls, we are working as a unit to also clinch the Madhupur bypoll.” He stressed that the alliance government will complete its full term and said, “BJP will never be able to achieve its agenda here and the government will complete its full term.”
The Puducherry development came at a time when JPCC, a ruling alliance member of the JMM-Congress-RJD government, is grappling with serious infighting and factionalism both within the party and among the alliance. On Monday, party workers clashed during a meeting at the state party office in the presence of Oraon. A few days back, similar unruly scenes were witnessed at a programme in Giridih while many Congress MLAs openly criticized the functioning of the government recently over alleged mistreatment to them by bureaucrats.
On the other hand, RJD — which is a minority alliance partner — is also demanding “respect” for its senior leaders by absorbing them in appropriate positions in boards and corporations of the state. Currently, the alliance enjoying an absolute majority in the House and does not face any imminent risk, but alliance sources admitted that keeping their flocks together is often a big challenge as BJP is an expert in triggering defections.
Oraon said efforts are on both within the party and among the alliance partners to mend any existing chinks and to prevent any attempt to bring down the government.
Meanwhile, BJP took a dig at the Congress workers’ clash. Party spokesperson and former Baharagora MLA Kunal Sarangi tweeted in Hindi, “Pawri Ho Rahi Hai (’Party is on’, a term which trended on the internet last week after a Pakistani social media influencer shared a funny video. After losing in Puducherry, they seem to repeat it in Jharkhand, too. They made a girl dance on an item song in Seraikela during their farm rally and now the Congress workers clash during a meeting on fuel price.”
Oraon, however, brushed off Monday’s fight at the party office as stray incidents which should not be taken seriously. He said, “We are a party which works for the public and the best way to strengthen ourselves is to raise public issues. Sometimes, such incidents do happen. We intend to tackle such fights by keeping them engaged with suitable roles. Our ministers have also been tasked to undertake routine field visits to take care of the public needs and table the issues on party platforms.”