CPIML will not join the Hemant Soren-led coalition government in Jharkhand, Dipankar Bhattacharya announced on Saturday.

The decision, taken at the CPIML standing committee meeting held in Ranchi on Friday and communicated to the media by CPML national general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on Saturday, puts the two elected MLAs of the party out of the race for ministerial berths in the Jharkhand cabinet.

“CPIML does not want a ministerial post in the cabinet. We will not be joining the government. However, our party will definitely be there in the government’s coordination committee,” said Bhattacharya at the party office in Ranchi.

CPIML has two MLAs in the form of Arup Chatterjee from Nirsa and Chandradeo Mahato from Sindri (both in Dhanbad district). However, two of its candidates including erstwhile MLA from Bagodar Vinod Singh and Raj Kumar Yadav from Dhanwar lost in the polls.

Replying to a query, Bhattacharya said, “We have only two MLAs in the Assembly. Therefore we will not put any pressure on the government to include them in the cabinet, but will support the government at every step for the right decision. The party has not received any proposal for a ministerial post from the government either.”

“When CPIML will have eight to ten MLAs, they will consider the ministerial post. Our MLAs will raise the issues of the people of Jharkhand inside and outside the Assembly,” added Bhattacharya.

Dipankar Bhattacharya further said that the people of the state have shown the mirror to the BJP who pursued a communally discriminatory narrative throughout the election campaign.

“We are committed to working for the people of Jharkhand and would like to have a coordination committee to be formed of all parties in the coalition in order to fulfil the seven guarantees given to the people by the INDIA bloc,” said Bhattacharya.

Bhattacharya said, “We will extend our full support to the government for its every right step and fulfil the guarantees. Government is one front, while the struggle is another front. CPIML will continue to fight against wrong ideology, lies, hatred and corporate loot. We will be working to unite the society.”

He said that the mandate of Jharkhand is important for the whole country. This has rekindled the faith of the people in democracy.

“The BJP wanted to impose Adani Raj in Jharkhand and adopted every possible malpractice for this. The people of Jharkhand unitedly gave a befitting reply to such forces. The Center should also respect the mandate of Jharkhand and should not try to destabilize the state as it did earlier,” said Bhattacharya.

Meanwhile, Hemant Soren had informed the media on Thursday that cabinet allocations would be completed soon. However, till Saturday there has been no communication from the government on this issue.

The JMM-led alliance last week stormed to power in Jharkhand for the second time in a row, securing 56 seats in the 81-member assembly, while the BJP-led NDA managed 24 seats.