Jharkhand Congress MLA claims BJP trying to topple Soren government, names Assam CM in complaint

Kumar Jaimangal Singh, a Congress MLA from Jharkhand, has alleged that his colleagues arrested in West Bengal had asked him to meet Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Guwahati to ascertain cash and a ministerial berth, hinting at a switchover to the BJP.

The Bermo MLA in a complaint letter to the Argora police station in Ranchi said that his colleagues Rajesh Kachchap and Irfan Ansari had urged him to meet the Assam Chief Minister in Guwahati with the promise of a "definite ministerial berth" and a significant amount of money after bringing down the JMM-Congress government in the tribal-majority state. He named another MLA, Bixal Kongari, in his complaint.

Adding that he did not want to be a part of this "unconstitutional, illegal, and downright criminal activity", the MLA urged the police to take action against his colleagues. The legislator urged the Jharkhand police to invoke Section 7(C) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and 120B IPC.

The West Bengal Police on Saturday detained Jamtara MLA Irfan Ansari, Khijri MLA Rajesh Kachhap, and Kolebira MLA Naman Bixal Kongari with cash valued at about Rs 4.9 million stacked in their vehicles. On Sunday, the three MLAs, and two others accompanying them, were arrested and remanded to the custody of the State Police’s Criminal Investigation Department till August 10. Meanwhile, Congress has suspended the MLAs for their alleged attempt to topple the Hemant Soren government.

Meanwhile, Biswa Sarma, a key orchestrator of the fall of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra, denied the allegations.