Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur terms BJP 'bacha chor' after CM Soren wins trust vote

Jharkhand Congress chief Rajesh Thakur on Tuesday termed the Bharatiya Janata Party as 'Bacha Chor' over the political horse-trading.

"Our MLAs were not going anywhere... BJP destabilises the country's non-BJP state governments, and we always take precautions because they (BJP) are like thieves of children (Bacha Chor). We used to hear that a child thief would come and take away them. So, we have to be careful," said Jharkhand Congress President Rajesh Thakur, when asked if the UPA gained confidence after the trust vote and allowed MLAs to go home.

"We proved our majority and strength in the house. Not a single vote came against the confidence motion. This shows even the opposition has accepted and gave the silent approval to the majority of the coalition government," Thakur added.

Thakur's remarks came after Chief Minister Hemant Soren won the trust vote in the Assembly on Monday and slammed Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) for creating an atmosphere of civil war and riots with the aim of winning polls.

Soren on Monday tabled a confidence motion in the Assembly amid political uncertainty in the state.

After the confidence motion, all legislators and the Chief Minister returned to the Circuit House.

A day ago, the legislators flew back to Ranchi after spending several days in Chhattisgarh capital Raipur. Sources said those who went to Raipur include 13 from Congress including four ministers and 18 MLAs of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). Soren had met the legislators on Sunday night at the Circuit House.

Amid the political turmoil in Jharkhand, Soren also hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing them of political horse-trading and saying they only "buy and sell MLAs".

"They only buy and sell MLAs but we work for the public and don't do horse-trading. People will give answers to those who are doing business in politics," Soren had said.

Meanwhile, Congress leader and Health Minister Banna Gupta on Saturday alleged that a conspiracy was hatched to destabilize the government in the state.

In the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, the ruling alliance has 30 MLAs of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), 18 MLAs of the Congress and one MLA of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Notably, a political crisis emerged in Jharkhand after a petition by the BJP sought Soren's disqualification from the Assembly in an office of profit case.

The BJP had sought the disqualification of Soren as an MLA accusing him of allocating a mining lease to himself while he held the state Mining portfolio in 2021.

In February this year, the BJP submitted a memorandum to the state Governor Ramesh Bais seeking disqualification of Soren from the House under Section 9(A) of the Representation of People's Act.

The Governor had forwarded the BJP complaint to the ECI and the poll panel in May had issued a notice to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader.

(ANI)

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