SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, February 16: JMM MLA Baidyanath Ram, who was dropped from the list of ministers at the last minute, is angry.
The Raj Bhawan released the list on Friday based on recommendations from Chief Minister Champai Soren for his cabinet expansion.
Ram was on serial no. 2 in the MLAs’ list released by Raj Bhawan.
Ram summoned to CMO
“I was on my way to the Raj Bhawan after receiving an invitation/warrant from the governor to take oath as minister. In the meantime, I got a call from Supriyo Bhattacharya to come to the CMO. Supriyo told me that his nomination to the cabinet had been put on hold following unexpected pressure from Congress. Joba Manjhi has also expressed her anger,” Ram said.
”Ek do din mein result ayega.”
Ram said the JMM decision had not sent a good message, particularly to the Scheduled Caste community, by not allowing me to take the oath.
“I have taken this humiliation seriously and will take some steps. “Ek do din mein result ayega (the result will come in a day or two).
Also Read: Basant among 2 new faces as Jharkhand CM expands cabinet amidst Congress MLAs’ anger
According to sources, the Congress frustrated the JMM’s plan to induct a member from the Scheduled Castes community amidst anger from the Congress hopefuls.
It finally prevailed over the JMM leadership to keep the 12th berth vacant.
The Congress MLAs were eyeing the 12th berth and wanted to replace some ministers from the party quota.
Who is Baidyanath Ram?
After obtaining his bachelor’s degree in political science from Banwari Sahu College, Latehar, Ram worked as a teacher in Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandir, Latehar, for about three years.
When Jharkhand became a separate state in 2000, Ram left his job as a teacher and joined politics.
He contested the Lohardaga assembly elections for the first time on a Janata Dal-United (JDU) ticket and won.
In 2005, Ram left the JDU and joined the BJP, winning the elections from Latehar on a BJP ticket and became the Education Minister.
However, in 2009, as a BJP candidate, he was defeated by RJD’s Prakash Ram. Baidyanath Ram did not contest the 2014 elections.
This time, Baidyanath Ram was preparing to contest the assembly elections from Latehar on BJP ticket. But the party cancelled his ticket and made Prakash Ram its candidate. Prakash Ram won the polls from Latehar last time on the JVM ticket but joined the BJP after the elections.
On the other hand, Baidyanath Ram joined JMM after not getting a ticket from the BJP and won the elections in 2019.
