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Congress person and erstwhile Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) president Rajesh Thakur
Congress person and erstwhile Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) president Rajesh Thakur is simply a subordinate of the ruling JMM-led coalition’s coordination committee with the presumption of a furniture minister. A subordinate of the authorities Congress’s predetermination and run committees for the upcoming Assembly elections, Thakur has played a cardinal relation on with JMM person and Chief Minister Hemant Soren and different INDIA bloc players successful stitching up their electoral alliance. In an interrogation with The Indian Express, helium speaks connected assorted issues relating to the polls including the Congress’s plans to instrumentality connected the BJP. Excerpts:
* You person been dealing with the Jharkhand Congress affairs since 2019 successful assorted capacities. The Congress has seen upheaval successful the past – however antithetic is this election?
In the past 5 years, the Congress has worked connected aggregate fronts. We person made the cadre beardown astatine the crushed level. We person 48,000 designated office-bearers crossed each panchayats and blocks of the state’s 24 districts. And we person much than 8 lakh progressive members with details astir their caste and profession, who assistance america get a consciousness of however radical crossed Jharkhand are seeing this conjugation government’s performance. We progressive astir 1,000 Congress workers successful a 20-point programme and made a fewer in-charges of assorted Boards and Councils, which led to a feeling among the workers that the enactment is reasoning astir them. In the past 24 years (since the state’s formation), this is the archetypal clip this has happened nether my tenure.
* How volition the conjugation government’s show interaction the upcoming polls?
Based connected surveys and feedback from our progressive members, we person understood that our government’s schemes, specified arsenic pension and nonstop payment transfers to women, person worked connected the crushed and radical are happy.
During the Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi’s “Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra” and his slogan to “Save the Constitution” resonated with the people. We besides announced 1 Lok Sabha candidate’s sanction and past withdrew it, which did not spell down good among assorted sections of society, truthful that gave america a definite learning of what we request to do. Based connected our enactment and strategy, the Congress contiguous is equipped to springiness a befitting reply to the BJP and we volition travel backmost to power.
* But wherefore are immoderate Congress and CPI(ML) Liberation workers unhappy with the seat-sharing deal? In immoderate seats, determination look to beryllium “friendly fights” betwixt the confederation partners, which whitethorn springiness an borderline to the BJP.
The bittersweet portion is that ideology-based authorities is retired of manner now. Everybody is disquieted astir winnability, which is wherefore radical from the BJP and All-Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU) who were denied tickets person joined the JMM and volition present contention the elections. From the JMM, (former CM) Champai Soren went to the BJP. In the Lok Sabha polls, 1 BJP campaigner besides joined the Congress. But determination are definite compulsions to which we person to cater. Having said this, the blasted for this goes consecutive to the BJP arsenic it is the fig 1 subordinate successful “tod jod ki politics”.
In the extremity immoderate the resentment is among the confederation workers, it volition wane arsenic yet we person to enactment unneurotic for effectual messaging and booth-level management.
* It is said that the confederation negotiations had not started connected a affirmative enactment with RJD person Tejashwi Yadav, Congress wide caput K C Venugopal and Hemant Soren differing connected assorted issues against the backdrop of the Congress’s nonaccomplishment successful Haryana.
The Haryana elections bash not person immoderate bearing connected Jharkhand. Any confederation goes done definite problems and we resoluteness it peacefully. The thought was to guarantee that an confederation happens, lacking which we would not person been beardown successful Jharkhand. I effort to find affirmative solutions from antagonistic issues. For instance, aft the RJD’s property conference, I told (RJD MP ) Manoj Jha that it was bully that helium enactment retired his views arsenic it would complaint up RJD workers, which would assistance america triumph the elections.
Similarly, determination were definite disagreements implicit seat-sharing betwixt Hemant Soren and the Congress leadership, which led to introspection among some parties’ leaders, and we came retired stronger.
* How bash you respond to the BJP’s attacks connected the Soren authorities implicit corruption and dynastic and appeasement politics?
If we speech astir caller faces, the BJP has the highest fig of dynastic candidates. To sanction a few, erstwhile Union curate Arjun Munda’s woman Meera; erstwhile CM Raghubar Das’s daughter-in-law Purnima Sahu; ex-CM Champai Soren’s lad Babulal; AJSU MP Chandra Prakash Choudhary’s woman Sunita and member Roshanlal; BJP MP Dhullu Mahato’s member Satrughan; and BJP MLA Indrajit Mahato’s woman Tara Devi.
Barring jailed Congress person Alamgir Alam’s woman Nishat, we person not fixed a azygous summons to immoderate caller dynastic faces. The JMM has fixed the tickets to 2 candidates (who are household members) of MLAs who vacated their seats due to the fact that they became MPs.
The BJP should not speech astir corruption arsenic Jharkhand’s archetypal planetary investors’ acme (held nether the erstwhile BJP authorities successful 2017) was mired successful corruption allegations.
On appeasement politics, the BJP has been continuously saying that determination is infiltration successful the Santhal Pargana region, but the radical are denying it. Even if they accidental so, isn’t the Union Ministry of Home Affairs accountable? This is simply a communicative to conscionable polarise the electorate.
* The Congress has besides denied tickets to a fewer sitting enactment MLAs. One of them, Umashankar Akela, has alleged that the enactment demanded a Rs 2-crore “donation” for a ticket.
This is an perfectly mendacious allegation. We did not springiness him the summons due to the fact that our survey and our ground-level workers said helium was going to suffer the seat.
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