The Congress high command is concerned that its state unit has not been able to thrash out a common minimum programme with the JMM, its ally and leader of the ruling coaltion, two years after the formation of the Hemnat Soren-led government and has, therefore, asked leaders to start working on it.
According to leaders present at a meeting of state Congress MLAs and office-bearers with Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on Tuesday, the senior party leader asked local leaders to ensure regular communication with the JMM to ensure tthat promises made in the manifesto of the 2019 Assembly elections could be fulfilled.
Owing to its shrinking support base due to electoral reverses in state after state since 2014, the grand old party is currently in power only in a handful of states either on its own or in alliance. The central leadership, the sources explained, believes that the only way to regain political relevance nationally is to capitalise on the opportunities that show up ahead of the 2024 general elections.
The Congress has 18 MLAs in Jharkhand. Barring Mahagama MLA Dipika Pandey Singh, all the other MLAs had attended the meeting. Dipika is overseeing party affairs in Uttrakhand for the coming elections. State party officer-bearers and members of the state coordination committee also attended the meeting
This was the first formal meeting held by Rahul with all key members of the party's Jharkhand unit. The meeting was held to ensure all arms of the state united worked in tandem, especially after reports that a few disgruntled leaders of the state unit were sending feelers to the BJP to try and establise the coaltion government.
A party MLA, who is still in Delhi, described Tuesday's meeting as a success and that all those who attended pledged to work to strengthen the Congress in the state.
“A number of issues were discussed about the functioning of government and the state. The biggest worry for the party is that we are still not able to connect with the grassroots despite being in government for two years now. We don’t want to lose our vote bank due to pressure politics of the JMM,” said the MLA.
That there is still no common minimum programme in place is a reflection of that disconnect with the alliance partner, he added. “Hence, Rahulji stressed on having a CMP at the earliest,” he said.
A co-working president of the party added that the state unit was asked to organise mass connect drives since Covid cases were on the wane. “Since we are also part of the government, we must reach out to the masses with the message about the good work done by our government in the last two years. We are also planning a conclave later this month on ways to strengthen and boost the party’s image in Jharkhand,” he said.
Mandar MLA Bandhu Tirkey said he spoke about the resentment among tribals across the state over rampant land grabbing and displacement which would backfire if not addressed soon. “Also, jobs are the another big concern. I have demanded that Jharkhand must come up with a proper recruitment policy soon,” he said.
The ongoing controversy over inclusion and exclusion of certain languages from the list of regional languages in the state staff selection commission was also discussed at the meeting, the sources said, adding that the Congress was currently a divided house on the issue.
“Bihari MLAs are in favour of including Maghi, Bhojpuri in the language list at the district-level exam, while tribal lawmakers are upset about it. It is high time the controversy is resolved before it poses problems both for the Congress and the state government,” said another party worker, citing the widespread violence in 2002 over the domicle issue during the tenure of former chief minister Babulal Marandi.
