Jamshedpur: Former Jharkhand Vikas Morcha leader and MP of Jamshedpur Dr Ajoy Kumar today joined the Congress party at the party�s state headquarters in Ranchi in the presence of state Congress president Sukhdev Bhagat. He was accompanied by state HRD minister Gitashree Oraon and other leaders of the party.
Calling himself a �Congressman� from birth, the former IPS officer said the Congress was like rainbow as it assimilated in itself the colours of all communities. �Congress is the only party which can defeat communal forces in the country and rout the ruling BJP. It is important to defeat non-secular parties for the progress of the country,� he said.
Kumar said he was ready to discharge any responsibility assigned to him by the party. He said he had decided to join the Congress unconditionally after being inspired by its policies, principles and leadership.
State Congress president said the joining of Congress by Dr Ajoy Kumar would give strength to the organization. He said the party had a glorious history of 129 years and was unlike other parties with parochial approach.
While the former MP called his decision to join the Congress the result of his natural inclination, his former associate in the JVM, MLA Pradip Yadav termed it as a beginning of �selfish politics�. �Dr Ajoy has joined Congress after his long association with the JVM. Being a former police officer, he has joined a party where his long supported values may be compromised,� the legislator told The Avenue Mail.
Notwithstanding the criticism for joining the Congress after his Lok Sabha defeat in the hands of BJP�s Bidyut Varan Mahato, Kumar said he wanted to play a bigger role in national politics which he found possible only under the banner of the Congress. He had earlier said he wanted to do something for Jharkhand while denying possibility of ever contesting Assembly polls in the state.
Yadav, also the JVM�s legislative group leader, said the party would naturally suffer some loss with Dr Ajoy Kumar having quit the party. He also ruled out that the party was in real crisis after its five MLAs joined the BJP recently. �The party will recover in the due course,� he said.
Yadav said the party had not shut the doors for Congress, but was dead against joining hands with the BJP.
Another JVM leader Abhay Singh refused to comment much on Dr Ajoy�s joining the Congress. He said he hoped Dr Ajoy to return to the JVM fold someday.
BJP leaders meanwhile called the former MP as an �impulsive deserter�. �Dr Ajoy has changed his roles from being a doctor to becoming a cop, a corporate person, a JVM leader and finally a Congressman. This speaks everything about his lack of certainty,� said district BJP president Rajkumar Srivastava.