The Jharkhand Congress legislator who filed a police complaint accusing Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma of plotting to destabilise the Hemant Soren administration by throwing money at MLAs had met the latter with a request just 5 days before the “fabricated FIR” was filed, minister Pijush Hazarika tweeted on Tuesday, along with a set of photos showing the duo in Union coal minister Pralhad Joshi’s residence.
CM Sarma responded by counter attack by comparing MLA Kumar Jaimangal’s zero FIR to “Congress asking Ottavio Quattrocchi to file a case against Bofors.”
According to Jaimangal’s complaint, the three fellow Congress MLAs arrested late Saturday with Rs 49 lakh in cash offered him Rs 10 crore and a ministerial berth if he did the BJP’s bidding and helped destabilise the Soren government in Jharkhand.
According to Hazarika, CM Sarma took Jaimangal to the residence of the Union coal minister at his request to assist with resolving a trade union dispute. “Mr @KumarJaimangal has been regularly meeting Dr@himantabiswa sir. He should face the law for making a fraudulent allegation against the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Assam and those tribal MLAs.”
Jaimangal stated that he had never intended for his meeting with Sarma to be kept a secret. “I had informed the CM (Soren) and Congress affairs in-charge Avinash Pande about the meeting. I have had a 20-year relationship with Himanta”.
Jharkhand BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo stated: “This MLA …has been meeting the Assam CM on his own since long. The way three MLAs were suspended, will Congress also suspend him (Jaimangal) now?” he asked.