Congress suspends 3 Jharkhand MLAs caught with cash in West Bengal

NEW DELHI: Congress on Sunday suspended the three Jharkhand MLAs caught with huge amount of cash in Howrah, and is set to move for their disqualification from the assembly, as the shocked party leadership started looking at the future of “thwarting BJP’s attempts to dislodge the coalition government” in Ranchi.
Asserting the Hemant Soren-led Congress-JMM government in Jharkhand is stable and will complete its term, AICC state in-charge Avinash Pande said the three accused MLAs were working to weaken the legislative party and also misleading other members. “The party leadership is aware of who all are part of the conspiracy and will take action at an appropriate time,” he said.
It appears that the plot came to the knowledge of the state government which then tipped off Bengal. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Trinamool Congress leaders share a good relationship. Also, a former Congress leader, who has now joined BJP and was earlier AICC in-charge of Jharkhand, is said to be playing a key role in the efforts to wean away Congress MLAs.
A concerned Congress launched an aggressive bid to corner the truant MLAs and discourage future mischief from wavering leaders. The state unit launched protests in over 18 districts, including in the constituencies of the three errant MLAs.
Congress and JMM brass established contact to take stock of the situation, and as per information from JMM, one more MLA is said to have been travelling in Bengal.
Pande said this was the second BJP attempt to topple the Hemant Soren government, and an earlier FIR and confession of the MLA, who incidentally is among the three arrested with cash, is already on record. “This is a dangerous trend in democracy where money is being used by BJP to destabilise opposition governments. We will have to seriously ponder over what is happening in the country. Democracy is being shredded to pieces,” he added.
He pointed fingers at “a chief minister of a state” (the FIR has named Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma) as the mastermind behind the ‘Operation Lotus’ in Jharkhand, while claiming that Union ministers are also threatening the legislators.
As the issue moves forward, sources said Congress will petition for the disqualification of the three legislators from the assembly, while a party inquiry will be conducted on their behaviour. “Their disqualification is likely,” sources said.
The threat to the Jharkhand Congress came in the backdrop of plans of a group of Goa Congress MLAs to jump the ship and join BJP. While the sabotage has been stalled for the moment with timely intervention, sources said the situation in Goa is precarious, and the MLAs led by Digambar Kamat and Michael Lobo have still not been won back.
There have been worries in Congress about Jharkhand after the fall of Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra, following a wholesale defection by Sena MLAs.