Kamlesh Kumar Singh, the lone Jharkhand MLA from the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party announced on Wednesday that he would withdraw support from the Hemant Soren-led government in the State.
Speaking at Ranchi’s press club, Mr. Singh said that the government had not fulfilled its promise to make Hussainabad a separate district; it is currently a sub-division.
The MLA, who represents the Hussainabad Assembly constituency of Palamu district, is also the state president of the NCP in Jharkhand. He said that he would soon meet Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan to submit a letter withdrawing his support to the government. This is unlikely to impact the government in any significant way, but the breaking of the alliance before the Lok Sabha polls sends a signal.
Mr. Singh alleged that the Jharkhand Chief Minister has merely give namesake assurances regarding Hussainabad for the last four years, and has not solved a single problem that the NCP MLA has raised. He had earlier set October 31 as the deadline to make Hussainabad a separate district.
“On the instruction of Ajit Pawar ji, I had given support to this government and was hoping that we will get something in return with regard to our demand but nothing happened. My Assembly constituency is a Naxal-affected area and there are a lot of problems in the region. This government is not listening to anyone,” Mr. Singh said.
Apart from the NCP, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led government has the support of the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in the State. Of the 81 members of the Jharkhand Assembly, the JMM has 30 MLA, supported by 17 from the Congress and one from the RJD. The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has 26 members, while the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) has three and the Left has two. The remaining two MLAs are independents.
