RANCHI: Amidst eight discontented Congress MLAs camping in New Delhi, Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren met with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday to discuss seat sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. This marked Soren’s first meeting with Kharge after being sworn in as Chief Minister. During the meeting, the leaders also deliberated on the INDI Alliance, agreeing on the need to strengthen the alliance to oust the BJP from power at the Centre. Jharkhand Congress in-charge Ghulam Ahmed Mir and state president Rajesh Thakur were also present.After meeting Kharge, Champai Soren termed the meeting as a courtesy call with the Congress president after taking charge as the chief minister. When asked about the current crisis in the Congress over the recent cabinet formation, Soren said it was the internal matter of the Congress and has nothing to say in this regard.On Saturday, Umang Singhar, appointed observer for the current crisis in Jharkhand, met with the disgruntled Congress MLAs late at night in Delhi, continuing until around 4 in the morning. Singhar reportedly spoke to all the MLAs individually, and they remained firm on their demand to replace the four Congress ministers in the Champai Soren government with new faces in the interest of the party.Notably, disappointed with the decision of the party high command to reappoint ministers of the previous government led by former CM Hemant Soren in Jharkhand, 12 out of the 17 Congress legislators have taken a rebellious stand and are in a mood for an all-out battle to fight it out with party seniors.After several meetings in Ranchi, eight of the 12 MLAs flew to New Delhi to meet the Congress high command and register their protest.Later in the evening, Jharkhand Congress Chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir spoke with the disgruntled MLAs to resolve the issue. According to Mir, the MLAs did not have problems with the government but raised specific constituency-related issues to be addressed by the party leadership and sort them out very soon.Governor CP Radhakrishnan administered the oath of office and secrecy to a total of eight ministers. The ministers included Mithilesh Thakur, Hafizul Hassan, Baby Devi, Basant Soren, and Deepak Birua from the JMM quota, and Banna Gupta, Dr. Rameshwar Oraon, and Badal from the Congress quota.Latehar legislator Baidyanath Ram, supposed to take oath as the 12th minister on Friday, couldn’t join the Cabinet last minute due to protests from Congress MLAs. Ram expressed his displeasure, stating that his exclusion “at the last moment” hurt his dignity, and he won’t remain silent. He hoped for a positive response from CM Champai Soren upon his return to Ranchi; otherwise, he indicated he would make a decision.
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