Jharkhand Minister's letter to Amit Shah embarrasses BJP

A letter written by Jharkhand Food and Supply Minister Saryu Rai to party President Amit Shah has embarrassed the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state.

Rai has reportedly written a letter to Shah saying, "I feel ashamed to remain a Minister in the Raghubar Das government. Please allow me to quit from the Minister's post."

The letter, written on Saturday, was leaked to the media on Monday. The BJP has taken the issue seriously.

"The party has taken the issue seriously. There is no tradition of getting such matters reflected through the media. The Minister should have raised the issue on the party platform," BJP Spokesperson Pratul Sahdeo told reporters.

The BJP was unhappy as the letter was leaked to the media before it could reach the party President.

Rai has not shared a good relationship with Chief Minister Raghubar Das for some time now. Due to his differences with Das, Rai had given up the additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs Minister last year.

Both the Chief Minister and Rai are legislators from Jamshedpur. While Das was elected from Jamshedpur East, Rai won from the Jamshedpur West constituency.

The Chief Minister has not reacted on the 'letter' issue yet.

Jharkhand BJP President Lakshman Giluwa Ahas said, "Saryu Rai had written to me in the past and I had apprised the Chief Minister regarding the issues raised by him."

Party sources said that action may be taken against the Jharkhand Minister after consulting national leaders. The party feels that Rai should have taken up the issue with the party leaders instead of leaking the letter to the media with elections round the corner.

--IANS

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