In a huge blow to the Congress, its lone MP from Jharkhand and the wife of former CM Madhu Kora, Geeta Kora, quit the party on Monday and joined the BJP.
Her exit has left the Congress-Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) ruling alliance with only one MP – Vijay Hansdak – from the state, as the BJP won 12 of the 14 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Madhu Kora, who had been accused of irregularities to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore in the coal block allocation case of 2017 and convicted in a disproportionate assets case, has also joined the BJP.
BJP insiders said inclusion of Geeta, the Singhbhum MP, will boost the party’s chances in Kolhan division, spread over three districts of East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Saraikela-Kharsawan. In the 2019 Assembly elections, the BJP had failed to open its account in the region.
Welcoming the Koras into the party, state BJP chief Babulal Marandi implied that the Congress had mistreated Madhu Kora after making the CM.
Madhu Kora became CM of Jharkhand in 2006 while he was an Independent MLA after he emerged as the consensus candidate of the UPA following the fall of the Arjun Munda-led NDA government. The Congress had extended outside support to his government.
However, in 2008, the JMM, which was one of the constituents of the UPA, withdrew its support, leading to the fall of the Madhu Kora government. It was widely believed that the Congress orchestrated the “coup”.
Madhu Kora was later made the UPA in-charge for Jharkhand, while the JMM’s Shibu Soren became CM.
Congress leaders admitted shock at Geeta’s switch. “We had no clue about this. Most of the rumours surrounding her unhappiness with the party were false alarms. She even attended a party function on Sunday,” a senior party leader said.
Geeta entered politics in 2009, winning the Assembly elections held that year as a candidate of the Jai Bharat Samanta Party – formed by Madhu after he quit the BJP – from Jagannathpur, a seat won twice earlier by her husband (2000 as a BJP candidate and 2005 as an Independent).
Geeta was the party’s sole leader who won in that election. She retained the seat in 2014, in face of the Modi wave. In 2018, the Jai Bharat Samanta Party merged into the Congress.
An active parliamentarian, with an attendance of 69% in the outgoing Lok Sabha, Geeta is a member of the Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment and a member of the consultative committee on human resource development.
In December 2021, Geeta raised the issue of providing a separate column for the ‘Sarna Religious Code’ in the Census, questioning the Modi government’s stand on the issue. “Speaker sir, I want to tell you that Adivasis are natives of India and their existence is under threat… The (Central) government is not serious… only schemes won’t benefit them… This government shows that they are proponents of Adivasis but actions should speak louder. Today the Adivasis are in danger,” she had said.