INDIA bloc will not face any problem if Champai Soren joins BJP: Congress

Amid speculation that former Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren could join the BJP, Congress leader Ajoy Kumar on Sunday claimed that the ruling INDIA bloc in the state would not face any problem if the JMM veteran crosses over to the saffron camp.

If Soren switches sides, it would create a fissure among BJP leaders in the state, Kumar said.

"The ruling alliance will not have any problem as Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren will be the face of the INDIA bloc in the assembly poll this year. But this will certainly create a fissure among BJP leaders," the Congress leader said while responding to a query on speculations about Champai Soren.

Notably, Champai Soren left for Delhi on Sunday, amid speculations that he is likely to join the BJP, sources said.

A close associate of Champai Soren claimed that the former chief minister left for the national capital from Kolkata.

Soon after landing in Delhi, the JMM leader told reporters that he hadn't met any BJP leader and was in the national capital on a "personal" visit.

Kumar also asked, "Where would senior BJP leaders and ex-chief ministers Babulal Marandi and Arjun Munda will go, if Champai Soren joins the saffron party? Maybe, BJP leadership attempted to show doors to senior tribal leaders. The BJP had a habit of insulting their leaders."

Speaking on the alleged rape and murder of a woman doctor in Kolkata, Kumar, an AICC executive committee member, said an overall reform in the medical system is needed as such assaults on medics were not new in the country.

Kumar, who was himself a doctor, said the R G Kar hospital incident was a "heinous crime and we do not have a word to condemn it but it was not an isolated one".

On August 9, a postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. A civic volunteer was arrested in connection with the crime the next day.

Kumar, AICC in charge of Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, said the condition of all government hospitals in the country was such that doctors did not have proper room to sleep, and there was hardly any room for them to change.

He also held hospital authorities responsible for inadequate security measures in health facilities.

"It is immaterial which party is in power. We always raise our voices against women atrocities," the Congress leader claimed.