Congress claims 'conspiracy' to topple Jharkhand govt after 3 MLAs nabbed with cash stash

After wads of cash were recovered from three Jharkhand Congress MLAs in Howrah on Saturday, state party chief Rajesh Thakur claimed that there was a conspiracy to destabilize the JMM-led coalition government.

The Congress leader referred to the Maharashtra political crisis that ended last month with the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray government after a faction of Shiv Sena MLAs revolted against the party chief and camped in Assam's Guwahati.

Earlier on Saturday, three legislators including Irfan Ansari, MLA from Jamtara; Rajesh Kachhap, MLA from Khijri; and Naman Bixal, MLA from Kolebira were apprehended after a huge amount of cash was recovered from their cars in West Bengal's Howrah.

Speaking to ANI, Thakur said, "Everyone saw how Assam became the focal point to topple governments, the drama took place for 15 days and ultimately the Maharashtra govt was toppled... this indicates that there's a conspiracy to destabilize the Jharkhand government as well. Things will be clearer in coming times."

On the cash recovery, the Jharkhand Congress chief said the incident is saddening and the state unit will submit a report to the party's high command on the matter.

"It won't be reasonable to talk about it till the probe is done, but looking at the country's situation... nabbed MLAs can better explain the matter. However, the incident is saddening. We will submit a report to our high command. No one involved is to be spared," Thakur said.

Congress-BJP engage in war of words

Earlier, the Jharkhand Congress alleged a conspiracy by the BJP to destabilize the state government.

"It is in BJP's nature to try and destabilize any government which is not theirs. The same has been done against Chief Minister Hemant Soren's government. The only reason they were given money (by BJP) is to make the government fall," Bandhu Tirkey, Jharkhand Congress working President told ANI.

Following the arrest of Congress MLAs, Jharkhand BJP had said since the formation of the JMM-led government, corruption is rampant in the state. 

"Ever since their government came to power, corruption is on a rise. Earlier too, large amounts of cash were caught in Jharkhand at officers' homes. They use the public's hard-earned money for other purposes. Police caught them and it came to light," Aditya Sahu, Jharkhand BJP state general secretary said.

(With agency inputs)