The Congress central leadership has decided finally to rein in the ministers from the party quota in the Hemant Soren Government, who have often embarrassed the party as well as the Government by making controversial remarks.
Union Rural Development Jairam Ramesh would hold a high-level meeting with all the Congress ministers on Friday.
Sources in the party said that the meeting would discuss recent statements given by Ministers such as Geetashree Oraon, Yogendra Sao, Chandrashekhar Dubey and Mannan Mallik, including certain other issues such as formation of the coordination committee and making it functional.
“Jairam Ramesh will hold the internal party meeting in which all the Congress ministers have been invited to participate. We will have dinner and discuss all the issues concerning the running and functioning of the government,” said Sukhdeo Bhagat, Pradesh Congress Committee president.
The Ministers have been in the eye of the storm over their recent remarks. Human Resource Development Minister Geetashree Oraon had expressed her opposition to candidates clearing Teachers’ Eligibility Test with Bhojpuri and Magahi languages while Dubey opposed openly the decision of Chief Minister Hemant Soren not to allocate him the rural engineering organization (REO) portfolio alongwith the Rural Development department. Sao and Mallik had also gone in public over the portfolios allocated to them.
“The high command has taken the matter seriously and thinks that the statements are hitting the image of the party. Instead, the party leadership is of the view that agenda of the Congress and good works done at the national level should be popularised here in Jharkhand. The ministers would be given a lesson or two over developing a work culture and instruction to work in a coordinated manner,” added Bhagat, who on Thursday returned from Delhi updating the leadership over the matters.
Ramesh is also expected to stress on making the defunct coordination committee functional after the Congress went ahead naming its members. The committee had been promised just a few days after the government formation and the day when the Common Minimum Programme was made public in the presence of the Union Minister besides in-charge of party in Jharkhand BK Hariprasad and others.
“All the matters would be discussed in the meeting. However, I can assure you that within a week time all the names in the coordination committee would be finalised. Representatives of RJD and JMM would be named,” said Bhagat.
Ironically, RJD state president Girinath Singh denied having any update about naming the representative and said that he was busy in other party affairs.
Feeling in the party is that absence of a proper platform like this is the reason why such issues come in public domain and also contentious issues such as domicile is not settled.
The meeting would also take stock of the preparations for the proposed rally on November 19 at Ranchi in which Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is expected to take part. However, chances are that if the Gandhi scion remains engaged in Assembly election campaigning in the poll-bound states, the rally may be deferred for a week or so, sources said.