Congress minister raises questions over Jharkhand coalition, says CM Soren trying to capture party's vote base

Jharkhand Health Minister and Congress leader Banna Gupta on Tuesday alleged that the Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren wants to weaken the Congress and capture its voter base.

Speaking on the last day of the Congress' three-day 'Chintan Shivir' in Madhuban, the Health Minister recalled a Hindi song to convey the position of the party in the state where JMM and Congress are part of the ruling coalition.

"We are running a coalition government and our position is like in song 'Jab manjhi hi naav dubaaye, usse kaun bachaye' (if the boatman himself sinks the boat, then who will save it), if the Chief Minister only wants our party (Congress) to go towards its end and take our support base, then there is no purpose of the (coalition) government. If our party survives, then only we can," he said.

He further urged the Congress leaders to stick to the party's ideology and principles. "I also feel good that I am roaming around as a minister. Who will not like it? But how we became ministers and in a city like Jamshedpur we are getting one lakh votes. Thus, it is important for us to ensure that our ideology and principles should not weaken," the minister said.

Congress sources said that apart from Banna Gupta, many other leaders also expressed their unhappiness over the working of the coalition.

( With inputs from ANI )

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