Ranchi, June 5 (IANS). Voices of dissatisfaction have started emerging within the party after Congress nominated AICC Secretary and political advisor of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge Pranab Jha from Jharkhand for the Rajya Sabha elections. Former Godda MP and senior party leader Furkan Ansari has publicly expressed his displeasure, saying that the sentiments of the leaders and workers who have worked for the organization for a long time have been ignored.
Former MP Furkan Ansari, in his response released on social media, said that he has spent his entire life in strengthening the Congress organization and uniting the society. He said that he is not sad about not getting the post, but is pained by his decades of dedication and struggle being ignored. Ansari described this as the sentiment not only of himself but of thousands of workers who have worked for the party for years. However, he also made it clear that he was and will remain a Congress soldier.
Elections for two Rajya Sabha seats from Jharkhand are to be held on June 18. Congress has declared Pranab Jha as its official candidate for this election late on Thursday night. Many MLAs and leaders of Jharkhand Congress are currently expressing dissatisfaction regarding his candidature. The situation is that even 12 hours after the announcement of his candidature, no welcome, good wishes or congratulatory message has come from the state unit of the party or any prominent leader of the state.
On the other hand, Pranab Jha has expressed gratitude towards the Congress leadership for being made the candidate. He met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, KC Venugopal, Jharkhand in-charge K. Thanking Raju, State President Keshav Mahato and Chief Minister Hemant Soren, he said that he will try to live up to the trust reposed in a person like him coming from an ordinary background.
Pranab Jha is originally from Bhagalpur district of Bihar, although he received his early education and upbringing in Bokaro. Congress is trying to portray him as a local face associated with Jharkhand. Despite this, the debate of ‘local versus outsider’ is also going on in the political circles regarding his selection.
Congress has 16 MLAs of its own in the Jharkhand Assembly and will need the support of JMM and other India Bloc allies to win the Rajya Sabha elections. If he gets the support of all the parties in the alliance, he can get elected to the Rajya Sabha.
–IANS
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