When State Congress chief Sukhdeo Bhagat says the party wants to talk less and work more in whatever time it has in hands he sounds confusing about which way the Congress is to go in near future. The party extending crucial but confusing support to the Hemant Soren Government is unsure about many things — let it run, enter into coalition for Assembly polls and also its own organisational setups.
The party after a top level discussion in Delhi on Sunday and an extensive brainstorm in Ranchi before that, called a meeting again on Tuesday. The deliberation included representatives of Women Congress, NSUI, Youth Congress and Seva Dal, the sister organisations of the party, who sat with Congress in-charge in Jharkhand BK Hariprasad, Sukhdeo Bhagat and ClP leader Rajendra Singh.
On the one hand, the leaders discussed ways to strengthen the party at grassroots level by revitalising membership through the organisations, the leaders, feeling down after recent poll drubbings, talked indecisively on crucial issues.Replying to a question about the take away the party has from the Government and its performance so far, Hariprasad told The Pioneer, "It would not be fair to comment on the performance of the Government as we are also a part of it. Though, the party feels that it is functioning ok."
Amid talks of withdrawal of support from within the party its leadership at the same time understood to have given all its five Ministers, who have often embarrassed the Hemant Government, specific tasks which would be showcased in the upcoming polls. "The Ministers have to perform in a given timeframe. It would be vital for us as far as our performance in the Assembly elections is concerned," said Bhagat. His statement is contrary to another stream of thought prevailing which advocates in pulling the plug out and believes that the party has not been benefited by the coalition.
Insiders say that the party is also anxious about silent working style of the JMM Ministers which is a complete contrast of the Ministers from Congress quota. "We have a problem of too many speakers. The Ministers have been warned for speaking in public and instead to focus on works. It is also worrying that some of the Ministers are gathering controversy for illicit conducts," said a close aide of the PCC president.
Besides transfers and postings, name of a senior Congress Minister also came in appointing his favourites at key positions in electricity companies and health department. The party is sensing that in the pretext of its poor and dwindling support base it would be hard to better the performance in just four months time.
This sense is fueling the dilemma and has its bearings on elongating the coalition with the JMM post-Government. "We have not made any view onto that. The decision is to be taken by our working committee which will be taken at appropriate time," added Hariprasad.Instead the Congress is getting feelers that the JMM may not give much weightage to it and not concede desirable number of seats to contest in the election. "It is likely as the JMM despite being a regional party has performed far better than the Congress in the lok Sabha polls. Congress has slipped into a state where it cannot exert and bargain much," said a former party MP.
In this scenario if the ties are snapped right now it would seal the fate of the alliance and leave the Congress in a precarious position where it would find difficult to identify 81 leaders to contest. The party would also have to find strong reasons for pullout, especially when in any case elections are not going to be held before November.