Taking a bold step at a time when his coalition Government is said to be on a stickey wicket, Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday recommended sacking senior JMM leader and Food and Civic supplies Minister Simon Marandi.
Highly-placed sources informed that the CM had sent his recommendation to Raj Bhawan late evening for dismissal of Marandi. The Governor is likely to approve the recommendation by today, they added. The embattled minister has come under the ire of the CM and senior leaders of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) after he started spitting venom against his own party giving anti-party statements and targeting both the Chief Minister and his colleagues.
Marandi, one of the known faces in Snathal Pargana region, had reportedly begun raising voices of dissent after he was denied ticket for his son by the party to fight the lok Sabha polls from Rajmahal constituency. During the polls, he kept on saying that the coalition government was in minority and it would fall after polls. He had also said that the group of egocentric individuals were running the government only for their personal gains.
The one time loyal cadre of JMM chief Shibu Soren is an MlA from litipara legislative constituency and ironically he was not a minister in the BJP-JMM-AJSU coalition Government. Marandi was later inducted in the cabinet when Hemant Soren became the CM in 2013 forming the government with the Congress and RJD. Marandi, when contacted by The Pioneer refused to comment on the issue. “I have not come across any such information. I will not utter a word until I get proper information,” he said when asked about whether he was prepared for the situation and if he had any contingency plan.
Meanwhile, JMM insiders revealed that the dismissal of Marandi was orchestrated with huge pressure from a coalition partner – Congress. “They goaded JMM senior with the fact that if Dadai (Chandrashekhar Dubey) can be dismissed for anti-party activities, why not Simon Marandi,” a JMM leader said.
Incidentally, the JMM-Congress-RJD combine is witnessing second such incident during its short duration of governing the state. Congress veteran Chandrashekhar Dubey was also dismissed from the ministerial post after he continued making personal attacks on the CM. Dubey later joined the Trinamool Congress and resigned from the House. Speculations are rife that Marandi would also join the TMC anytime soon.