After Rajasthan, Congress now stares at political storm in Jharkhand

The Congress leadership has, undoubtedly, heaved a sigh of relief after the end of the Rajasthan crisis. But the problems for the party high command are still far from over. Jharkhand is another state which is giving former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi anxious moments.

The Congress leadership is aware that after MP and Rajasthan, Jharkhand is another state where the BJP might be looking for the opportune moment to “grab power”. The high command knows that there is serious dissent simmering in the Jharkhand unit of the Congress, including in the party legislature unit. This is something that the BJP must be looking for.

With this in mind, Rahul Gandhi is said to be cautious and getting feedback on the disgruntled elements in the state. In this process, the Congress leader in-charge of party affairs in Jharkhand has come under scanner in the initial indications. The party leadership will initiate an action, which could be a big one too, only after a comprehensive report comes up.

The leader in-charge of Jharkhand, who is a member of Rahul Gandhi’s youth team like Sachin Pilot, was in the headlines for questioning the comments made against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting last month. Rahul Gandhi gave him responsibility for Jharkhand. After the Congress-supported government was formed in Jharkhand, this leader was expecting a Rajya Sabha berth. He spared no efforts to get a Rajya Sabha ticket, but the party didn’t oblige him. From then onwards, he is believed to be upset with the party. When Jyotiraditya Scindia left the party and Sachin Pilot raised the flag of revolt, speculations were rife about the Jharkhand incharge as well.

In what added to the headache of Congress high command, more than half of the 16 MLAs of the Congress, which is part of the ruling coalition led by Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), were said to be unhappy, either with the Soren government, the state Congress leadership, or both.

The Jharkhand Assembly has a total strength of 81 seats. The JMM with its 30 seats has formed the coalition government with the support of 16 Congress MLAs. The BJP has 25 MLAs and with the support of its allies this number goes up to 30.

According to sources, the BJP may be waiting in the wings to grab power in Jharkhand before the Bihar elections. And, the disgruntled and aggrieved legislators could give the saffron outfit an opportunity for this. Sources say that the BJP strategists are already on the job, trying to contact such leaders of the Congress. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Hemant Soren also wants Congress MLAs to join the JMM. After getting disturbing inputs from Jharkhand, Rahul Gandhi asked Umang Singhar, the co-incharge of Congress in the state, to investigate the whole matter. Singhar got all the necessary papers ready to visit the state amid the Covid-19 pandemic and held several rounds of discussions with Jharkhand leaders of the party. However, some hurdles were created and Singhar was stopped at Girdiha on the pretext of coronarelated travel restrictions. Thereafter, he returned and submitted a report on whatever he found during discussions with state leaders in two days. After this report, the leader in-charge of Jharkhand came under scanner. There are several factions in the Jharkhand Congress. Sources say, like Rajasthan and MP, the BJP is believed to be using a youth leader to break Congress in Jharkhand too.