Ranchi: A war of words broke out between the ruling coalition and the opposition on Saturday after the arrest of three people from a hotel in the city. Jharkhand police.
Those arrested have been charged with sedition among several other sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act. Soon after the arrest, the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) at a press conference, accused the BJP of trying to topple the government. It said the three hiding inside the hotel were calling ruling coalition MLAs and offering them bribes to switch sides.
Party’s central general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said the real picture would be clear after the police investigation. “I don’t know about the investigation, but prima facie it appears that those arrested from the hotel were approaching ruling coalition MLAs to bribe them to topple the government,” he said. But I want to clarify that JMM-Congress and RJD MLAs are intact and nefarious designs have been exposed.
To justify his claim that BJP is masterminding coupBhattacharya said that BJP leaders have been saying time and again that they are going to form the government in the state and the days of Hemant Soren’s government were numbered. “BJP state president Deepak Prakash and Godda MP Nishikant Dubey have said on record that BJP is going to form government in the state during Dumka and Madhupur by-polls,” he said. Bhattacharya also pointed fingers at BJP MLA CP Singh for saying that if BJP had planned horse-trading of MLAs, people would not have been arrested. “It appears from his statement that the BJP with its own admission has mastered the art of overthrowing elected governments, which was evident in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka,” he said.
Taking strong exception to the charge, BJP’s Nishikant Dubey, tweeting a copy of the FIR, wrote, “Ab to do lakh me chaar aadmi milkar Jharkhand ke vidhayak kharid rahe hain. Jharkhand ke vidhayak ki kimat mukhyamantri Hemant Soren ji ne 10,000 laga dia. Bakrid me to bakre ki kimat isse kai guna hai. (Now four people with Rs 2 lakh are purchasing Jharkhand MLAs. CM Hemant Soren has valued the MLAs at Rs10,000 each. The goats in Bakrid market fetch several times this price).
State Congress working president Rajesh Thakur launched a direct attack on the BJP and said that its nefarious designs have been foiled by the state police. It was Kumar Jaimangal alias Anoop Singh, Congress MLA from Bermo, who on July 22 lodged an FIR with the Kotwali police against unidentified persons for contacting ruling coalition MLAs through hawala channel and destabilizing the government.
BJP state spokesperson Pratul Shahdev rubbished the allegations and said that the ruling party has fabricated the whole issue to keep its MLAs under control. “The matter should be investigated by CBI or some neutral agency as the police is involved in fabricating a false case. The arrested people were picked up from Bokaro on Friday night and shown arrested from Ranchi hotel. They are all from poor families and how can they be involved in horse-trading of MLAs?” He asked.
Jaimangal Singh, a complainant in the case, told TOI that he was aware of the MLAs who were being contacted. “Though I did not mention the names in my complaint, I had the names of the MLAs and I have informed senior Congress leaders and the Chief Minister. I was monitoring the matter since 18th July and after being convinced, filed a complaint with the Kotwali police on 22nd July.
Those arrested have been charged with sedition among several other sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act. Soon after the arrest, the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) at a press conference, accused the BJP of trying to topple the government. It said the three hiding inside the hotel were calling ruling coalition MLAs and offering them bribes to switch sides.
Party’s central general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said the real picture would be clear after the police investigation. “I don’t know about the investigation, but prima facie it appears that those arrested from the hotel were approaching ruling coalition MLAs to bribe them to topple the government,” he said. But I want to clarify that JMM-Congress and RJD MLAs are intact and nefarious designs have been exposed.
To justify his claim that BJP is masterminding coupBhattacharya said that BJP leaders have been saying time and again that they are going to form the government in the state and the days of Hemant Soren’s government were numbered. “BJP state president Deepak Prakash and Godda MP Nishikant Dubey have said on record that BJP is going to form government in the state during Dumka and Madhupur by-polls,” he said. Bhattacharya also pointed fingers at BJP MLA CP Singh for saying that if BJP had planned horse-trading of MLAs, people would not have been arrested. “It appears from his statement that the BJP with its own admission has mastered the art of overthrowing elected governments, which was evident in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka,” he said.
Taking strong exception to the charge, BJP’s Nishikant Dubey, tweeting a copy of the FIR, wrote, “Ab to do lakh me chaar aadmi milkar Jharkhand ke vidhayak kharid rahe hain. Jharkhand ke vidhayak ki kimat mukhyamantri Hemant Soren ji ne 10,000 laga dia. Bakrid me to bakre ki kimat isse kai guna hai. (Now four people with Rs 2 lakh are purchasing Jharkhand MLAs. CM Hemant Soren has valued the MLAs at Rs10,000 each. The goats in Bakrid market fetch several times this price).
State Congress working president Rajesh Thakur launched a direct attack on the BJP and said that its nefarious designs have been foiled by the state police. It was Kumar Jaimangal alias Anoop Singh, Congress MLA from Bermo, who on July 22 lodged an FIR with the Kotwali police against unidentified persons for contacting ruling coalition MLAs through hawala channel and destabilizing the government.
BJP state spokesperson Pratul Shahdev rubbished the allegations and said that the ruling party has fabricated the whole issue to keep its MLAs under control. “The matter should be investigated by CBI or some neutral agency as the police is involved in fabricating a false case. The arrested people were picked up from Bokaro on Friday night and shown arrested from Ranchi hotel. They are all from poor families and how can they be involved in horse-trading of MLAs?” He asked.
Jaimangal Singh, a complainant in the case, told TOI that he was aware of the MLAs who were being contacted. “Though I did not mention the names in my complaint, I had the names of the MLAs and I have informed senior Congress leaders and the Chief Minister. I was monitoring the matter since 18th July and after being convinced, filed a complaint with the Kotwali police on 22nd July.
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