2 Congress, JMM MLAs each and 1 Independent join BJP ahead of Jharkhand Assembly elections

The state BJP headquarters witnessed an unprecedented crowd that thronged the party office with their leaders and MLA from the Congress, JMM, and the Independent.

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2 Congress, JMM MLAs each and 1 Independent join BJP ahead of Jharkhand Assembly elections
Raghubar Das and other senior leaders of the BJP welcomed all MLAs and bureaucrats to the party | Photo courtesy: Satyajeet Kumar

Two MLAs from the Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) each, one Independent and a host of former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) have joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday at the Jharkhand BJP headquarters before the presence of Chied Minister Raghubar Das, former Union minister Jayant Sinha and joint incharge for Vidhan Sabha elections Kishore Yadav.

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The state BJP headquarters witnessed an unprecedented crowd that thronged the party office with their leaders and MLA from the Congress, JMM, and the Independent.

The supporters were visibly upbeat and glad with the decision of their leaders to join the BJP. The traffic at the VIP Harmu Road was thrown out of gear for more than three to four hours.

The supporters were shouting slogans for their leaders and took their leaders on their shoulders to disseminate a message that joining the BJP means half the job is done.

The dias was shared by former state Congress president sukhdev bhagat, Congress MLA Manoj Yadav, Baharagora JMM MLA Kunal Sarangi, Mandu JMM JP Patel and Independent MLA Bhanu Pratap.

Raghubar Das and other senior leaders of the BJP welcomed all MLAs and bureaucrats to the party and administered them the membership.

All the new joinees were asked to give a miss call on 8980808080 to become a formal member. The new joinee Kunal Sarangi and Sukhdev Bhagat said that whatever responsibility they are entrusted with they will stick to it. They have made it clear that nationalism and development politics of the BJP has dragged them to the party.

CM Raghuwar Das, brimming with confidence, said, "The Lotus [BJP party symbol] will continue to bloom with the growing popularity of the party. We will achieve 65 plus target. It is an issue of pride that the nationalism and development module of the BJP is attracting the leaders from even the opposition camp."

On the other hand, Congress state president Rameshwar Oran expressed displeasure over the defection of the two MLAs of the party.

The general secretary of the JMM Supriyo Bhattacharya said that the defection will hardly make any difference to the party. "Before this, many stalwarts have deserted the party and it's in public domain how they are," Supriyo Bhattacharya said.

CHARGESHEETED INDUCTED TO THE BJP

The latest induction of Bhanu Pratap Sahi, former health minister and an Independent MLA, has drawn flak for the NJP. Bhanu Pratap Sahi has two cases pending against him both in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

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Former health minister was in jail in 2011 in connection with a disproportionate asset case. The chargesheet in the case was filed against him for amassing wealth to the tune of 3,217 per cent above his known source of income. Disproportionate assets of Rs 7.97 crore was tracked on his name.

The trial is still in progress. Bhanu Pratap Sahi is out on bail granted by the Supreme Court.

Another case against Bhanu Pratap Sahi was lodged by the CBI and ED in National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scam worth Rs 33 crore.

When asked, the BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo said, "Bhanu's judgement is awaited. The matter is subjudice and he has not been convicted yet. And if we talk about chargesheet even Sonia and Rahul are out on bail. They are chargesheeted in National Herald case."