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Jharkhand: Congress cautious over minister’s viral video, BJP seeks action
Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur said the party was keeping a watch on the developments and party would take a call over the issue at opportune time.
Though the ruling Congress in Jharkhand is on the back foot over the controversy surrounding a video purportedly involving state health minister Banna Gupta, the party is non-committal about any action straightaway against him despite the opposition BJP gunning for Gupta’s head.
Breaking silence over the controversy, Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur said the party was keeping a watch on the developments and party would take a call over the issue at opportune time.
“Prima facie, the development seems to be a political conspiracy because no one has come forward and complained against the minister. It is a BJP MP who shared the video on social media. So it won’t be appropriate to take any action just on an allegation by BJP. More so, the minister has filed an FIR. Let’s see what comes out in the investigation. Both the minister and Congress legislature party leader are out of town. We are keeping an eye on all developments and decide accordingly,” said Thakur.
A 21-second video clip was shared on social media by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, purportedly showing Gupta in a video chat with a half-naked woman.
BJP leaders have urged the Governor to intervene and sack the minister if the government does not take any action.
Gupta, on the other hand, has filed a case against unknown persons with cyber police station in Jamshedpur, alleging that the video was doctored.
However, the police are yet to make any breakthrough in the case. “We registered the case last night. Investigation in the case is on,” said Prabhat Kumar, senior superintendent of police, Jamshedpur.
Meanwhile, JMM, Congress’s senior ally in the government, has advised the party to take a call over the controversy, sources said.
Congress insiders said its central leadership has been apprised of the development in the state as a section in the party wants action against the minister.
“The central leadership is in touch with all stakeholders. However, any action is not going to come straightaway, especially after what happened in case of suspension of the three Congress legislators over allegations of being a part of conspiracy to pull down the government. We registered a case, but they got relief from high court. Though the video that has come out is very controversial, any action would follow only after lot of deliberations,” a party leader said.
