How do you look at your tenure so far as the state president of Congress party?

How have you dealt with the discontent among senior leaders in state Congress?

What is keeping the Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Jharkhand Vikas Morcha – Prajatantrik and RJD together ahead of the 2019 Parliamentary polls?

How does the Congress party rate the work of current government under chief minister Raghubar Das, which is about to complete four years in office in December?

How does the Congress and its allies plan to go about the 2019 Parliamentary polls, which is less than eight months away?

But several of your allies have been fighting corruption charges…

Has a general agreement been reached on seat sharing in the 14 Parliamentary seats?

IPS officer turned politician Ajoy Kumar, who was made the president of Congress party in Jharkhand earlier this year, spoke to TOI on preparations ahead of the 2019 Parliamentary polls, discontent within Congress rank and file on his appointment and the Raghubar Das government. Excerpts…In my perspective, the Congress party’s name resonates a lot in the minds of people. They want Congress to be strong and Jharkhand is no exception. But there has been some slack when it comes to reaching out to the people. They want us to be strong and visible. The people want our party to get stronger and provide opportunities to the youth to rise through party ranks. Jharkhand is a good state for the party. Here, we have talented leaders and a good team. My objective is to strengthen the party’s organization and connect with people.None of the senior leaders have a personal issue with me. I am having continuous dialogue with them. Some of them do not willfully attend party meetings but that is okay. Differences arose because a few wanted to set up their cronies over and above others. But the party believes in democracy. Even Rahul Gandhi , the national president believes in trusting people. He is a generous man and his trusts people automatically unlike some BJP leaders who are always suspicion. This is how I go about things. I speak up when something is untrue, sometimes I let things pass. There is lot of talent and sincerity among the party.The leaders of JMM, JVM-P, RJD and the Left parties are very sensible. Hemant (Soren) Ji, Babulal (Marandi) Ji and Annapurna (Devi) are talking to me all the time on decisions of the BJP government which is affecting the people such as ending scholarships for students, merger of schools, unemployment and others. Local issues are keeping us together because by and large we have the same thought process.Let me give an example. A police officer can, just by looking at a random FIR in a police station, make out whether the station is functioning efficiently. You can make a system analysis by looking at the FIR, then go to the property register, crime register, and other documents related to it. Likewise, one can make out how this government is functioning by looking at the hunger deaths due to omission of ration cards and old women not getting Vriddha Pensions. This government does not deliver systematically. The NH 33 is not getting repaired, hospitals are not functioning properly, no amount of investments are coming to Jharkhand. Skilled youth are being given jobs in other cities for Rs 8,000 a month, which is less than that of a driver. I dare BJP karyakartas to take up jobs in other cities on same wage and sustain their livelihood.Prime Minister Narendra Modi secured a lion’s share of votes from the first-time voters and the youth in 2014. This time, there is anger among youth on issues of unemployment. Why is it that cow meat is thrown outside temples before election? It is the BJP who are doing this as they are politicizing religion. For us, religion is a belief. The issues are many. There are no jobs, no wage hikes, corruption is rampant on local levels. The BJP has turned transfer postings into an industry. We will go to the people with these issues.Our faces are better than BJP legislators who are corrupt and those arrested for murder charges and chief minister Raghubar Das.There has been a general discussion. But the announcement will be made jointly after several rounds of discussions at the right time. Every ally will have there say in the discussion.