Hours after Congress leader and former union minister RPN Singh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday, a Congress legislator from Jharkhand said he had colluded with the saffron party for more than a year in a bid to overthrow the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led government in the state.
R P N Singh was Congress’s in-charge of Jharkhand since July 2017 and has been instrumental in forging an alliance with the JMM and Congress in 2019 Lok Sabha and assembly elections. He was given extension as in-charge in September 2020 and has been acting in that capacity till the time he crossed over to BJP on Tuesday.
“Since the beginning, he has been trying to destabilise the state government. We also had brought this to the notice of the central leadership. Every true Congress worker and supporter of Jharkhand is happy with him (Singh) going to BJP,” said Amba Prasad, a first-time legislator who represents Barkagaon seat of Hazaribag district in the state assembly.
Asked by reporters on the allegations made by her, Singh said, “Entire Jharkhand is aware of my contribution to the formation of government in the state... I don’t make personal comments.”
The JMM-Congress-RJD combine government led by chief minister Hemant Soren enjoys a comfortable majority, with 49 MLAs in the 81-member assembly. Of the 49, 30 are from JMM, 18 from Congress and one from RJD, besides outside support of one MLA each of NCP and CPI (ML).
{{/usCountry}}The JMM-Congress-RJD combine government led by chief minister Hemant Soren enjoys a comfortable majority, with 49 MLAs in the 81-member assembly. Of the 49, 30 are from JMM, 18 from Congress and one from RJD, besides outside support of one MLA each of NCP and CPI (ML).
{{/usCountry}}However, the ruling dispensation has, in the past, accused opposition BJP of trying to topple the government through horse trading. Last year, a case was registered in Ranchi and three persons arrested from a hotel here for allegedly trying to lure at least three Congress legislators to cross over.
The exit of RPN Singh has also exposed the prevailing cracks in the Jharkhand unit of Congress, a section of which also demanded that the decisions taken by Singh related to the party be revoked, an apparent reference to appointment of new Jharkhand Congress president and four working presidents last year.
“It is for the first time that party workers burst fire crackers at the party office after a leader left the party. They were forced to accept all his decisions, treating him as representative of party president Sonia Gandhi. However, he tried his best that BJP comes to power in 2019 assembly election with his decisions. Even after people threw away the BJP out of power, he installed outsiders on key positions in the state unit, weakening the organisation further,” said Alok Dubey, former spokesperson of the Jharkhand Congress.
Dubey is considered close to former president and serving finance minister Rameshwar Oraon, who was made state president ahead of 2019 assembly elections. Oroan relinquished his party post in September last year after Rajesh Thakur, considered close to Singh, was appointed state unit chief.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Thakur said Singh’s exit would not have any effect on the party.
“Congress is fighting for truth under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. It requires courage. His decision to quit the party seems driven by selfishness. He would never get the stature in BJP that he had in Congress,” said Thakur.