FIR against Himanta for Jharkhand toppling bid, Assam CM hits back

RANCHI/ GUWAHATI: Speculation and allegations of a deep political plot played out following the confiscation of Rs 49 lakh in the car of three Jharkhand Congress MLAs travelling through Bengal Saturday, as a fellow party legislator accused the trio in an FIR Sunday of trying to bribe him at the behest of Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and BJP bigwigs to topple the Hemant Soren-led coalition government in the state.
Kumar Jaimangal, the Congress MLA for Bermo, lodged an FIR in Ranchi in which he accused the MLA trio — Irfan Ansari (Jamtara), Naman Bixal Kongari (Kolebira) and Rajesh Kachchap (Khijri) — of trying to offer him Rs 10 crore and a ministerial berth in a new government.
Sarma responded he has known Jaimangal for 20 years. “Directly or indirectly there has always been a connection with me. There is no need for any middlemen to bring him to me,” he said.
The Assam CM said Congress veterans are in touch with him too. “They don’t talk politics with me. But when a person (Sarma) was with a party (Congress) for 22 years, the relationship will definitely be there. I don’t know what happened to Congress to file an FIR for this,” he wondered.
Jaimangal said legislators Ansari and Kachchap wanted to take him to Guwahati to meet Sarma, while Ansari promised him the health ministry portfolio in a new government. “He also told me that he will be reaching Kolkata Saturday afternoon and has already got money transferred to his people,” Jaimangal alleged. ”He assured me Sarma is doing it with the blessings of big shots of BJP in Delhi.”
But Jaimangal refrained from giving a straight answer to why he filed an FIR only after the cash haul from the MLAs’ car.
Congress has assured that the Soren-led government is stable and will complete its term. AICC state in-charge Avinash Pande said: “The party leadership is aware of who all are part of the conspiracy and will take action at an appropriate time,” he said. “This is a dangerous trend in democracy where money is being used by BJP to destabilise opposition governments.”
It appears that the plot had already come to the knowledge of the state government, which then tipped off Bengal. JMM and Trinamool Congress leaders share a good relationship. Also, a former Congress leader who has 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.
Congress launched an aggressive bid to discourage future mischief from wavering leaders. The state unit launched protests in over 18 districts, including in the constituencies of the three MLAs.
The threat in Jharkhand came in the backdrop of plans of a group of Goa Congress MLAs to jump ship and join BJP. Sources said the MLAs led by Digambar Kamat and Michael Lobo have still not been won back.