Hemant Soren Chairs INDIA Bloc Meet, Puts Coalition Change Rumours to Rest
INDIA bloc closes ranks firmly; alliance breakup rumours buried.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday chaired a high-level coordination meeting of all INDIA bloc constituents, deliberately projecting unbreakable unity and putting a decisive end to persistent speculation about an imminent change of guard or collapse of the ruling coalition just days before the Winter Session of the Jharkhand Assembly begins on December 5.
The rumours had spiralled after the Chief Minister and his wife, MLA Kalpana Soren, undertook a Delhi visit, triggering unconfirmed media reports of back-channel discussions with senior BJP leaders. The whispers grew louder when JMM abruptly pulled out of contesting the 2025 Bihar elections, publicly citing a “political conspiracy” by its own allies, followed by party general secretary Vinod Pandey openly calling for a comprehensive review of the alliance not only in Jharkhand but at the national level as well, especially after the Mahagathbandhan’s humiliating defeat in Bihar.
Thursday’s meeting, however, witnessed complete participation from the Congress camp, including all four ministers from its quota, Jharkhand in-charge K Raju, and state president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh, sending a clear message of cohesion. Sources present at the closed-door deliberations revealed that the agenda focused exclusively on legislative preparedness, governance deliverables, and floor coordination for the upcoming session rather than any leadership reshuffle or realignment.
State Congress chief Keshav Mahto Kamlesh categorically stated that every one of the alliance’s 16 MLAs would remain present throughout the Winter Session to raise people-centric issues, while Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Radhakrishna Kishore branded the entire leadership-change narrative as baseless propaganda. He reminded the media that Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself had recently described Parliament as a place for delivery rather than drama, advising BJP legislators to heed their own leader’s words.
Other alliance ministers mounted a robust counter-offensive, with Agriculture Minister Shilpi Neha Tirkey vowing that the BJP’s destabilisation script would be defeated, and Health Minister Dr Irfan Ansari accusing the opposition of indulging in theatrics only because it had no substantive issues left to confront the government. JMM ministers and legislators chose strategic silence before the press, allowing the visible unity and strong statements from partners to comprehensively bury the controversy.
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