In the wake of huge criticism over its inability to choose MlAs for its Cabinet berths, the Congress seems to have finally zeroed in on three names before final expansion.
Senior Congress leader Chandrashekhar Dubey aka Dadai Dubey, Dhanbad MlA Mannan Mallik and Badkagaon MlA Yogendra Saw will be sworn in as Ministers on Saturday, according to Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) president Sukhdeo Bhagat.
Interestingly, the State Congress unit was in a quandary over the names even after the schedule for oath-taking ceremony was decided by Raj Bhavan on Friday. Sources said Governor’s House responded to a verbal request for Cabinet expansion and fixed the ceremony for 4:30 pm.
Around 9 pm, Bhagat said, “Names have been finalised soon after the high command gave us a final nod.”
Five weeks after Government formation, there was great hue and cry over vacant ministerial berths. According to the agreement among coalition partners, JMM and RJD had filled their quota of five and two Ministers respectively, but the Congress’ quota of five was incomplete, with just two Ministers from its side.
Congress insiders said the party had to choose three MlAs from six ‘eligible’ ones. The contest was between Dubey and KN Tripathi, Banna Gupta and Yogendra Saw along with Mannan Mallik and Sarfaraz Ahmed. All six MlAs represented three different communities and the choices were made accordingly, they added.
“Vishrampur MlA Dubey got the advantage of seniority, while Mallik’s name was finalised as Sarfaraz could not come out clean in the Rajya Sabha horse-trading case of 2012. Saw was practically a wild card entry as his name was finalised at the last moment,” said a senior Congress leader.
Ironically, both Mallik and Saw still carry some amount of taint with them. While Mallik’s name was seen in bad light during the firing incident near Congress Bhavan in Ranchi during State party in-charge BK Hariprasad’s first visit to Jharkhand, Saw is facing sundry charges in Hazaribagh and his constituency Barkagaon.