Jharkhand govt toppling row: Turned down offer of ministerial berth, money; claims Congress MLA

Amid the Jharkhand government toppling row, Congress MLA Naman Bixal Kongari claimed that he was offered a ministerial berth and crores of rupees and added that he turned down the offer and informed the chief minister.

Speaking to ANI, Kolebira MLA Kongari said, "People were contacting us since January. Taking names of businessmen and saying that BJP asked them to do so. I was offered a ministerial berth and crores. I rejected the offer and informed senior leaders and the chief minister."

Earlier, a photo of Kongari had gone viral on social media showing him with a man arrested in the alleged conspiracy to topple the Jharkhand government.

Asked about the photograph with one of the arrested accused, the MLA said, "The photo is of January. I was returning from a visit to different districts and was requested by Congress colleagues from Dhanbad to visit them. Nothing like this was discussed."

Ranchi police have arrested three people for allegedly trying to topple the Hemant Soren-led government in Jharkhand. The identified persons include Abhishek Kumar Dubey, Amit Singh and Niwaran Prasad Mahto.

According to sources, Dubey, in his confession to Ranchi Police, has said that he along with others including Jharkhand MLAs had gone to Delhi on July 15. The ticket was sent to him by Amit Kumar Singh who has been arrested in the case.

In Delhi, they met with Maharashtra-based BJP leaders Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Charan Singh who later fixed meetings with a few big leaders, sources said.

After the meetings, the MLAs returned to Ranchi. Jai Kumar Belkhere remained in touch with them. Jaikumar was an Assistant Commandant with the National Security Guard (NSG) who took VRS. He is a relative of Chandrashekhar Bawankule.

On July 21, four persons Mohit Bhartiya, Anil Kumar, Ashutosh Thakkar and Jaikumar Belkhere, all residents of Maharashtra, came to Ranchi and contacted several MLAs. Later, a raid was conducted at the hotel where they were staying. Three persons Abhishek Dubey, Amit Singh and Nivaran Mahato were arrested, but four people from Maharashtra had left the hotel just before the raid.

This comes after a complaint was filed by Bermo MLA Kumar Jaimangal at the Kotwali police station on July 22 expressing suspicion over attempts to destabilize the government. Ranchi police registered an FIR based on the complaint and carried out an investigation. Various hotels were raided, informed the Ranchi police.

According to the police, all accused persons have confessed to having conspired against the government and were in touch with some political persons.

( With inputs from ANI )