Clouds of political uncertainty in Jharkhand

RANCHI: Clouds of political uncertainty hovered with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) supremo Shibu Soren staking claim to form the government in Jharkhand with support from Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU).

Mr Soren, accompanied by several of his MLAs and senior BJP leaders Anant Kumar, Karuna Shukla, Raghubar Das and Arjun Munda, reached Raj Bhavan at 3 pm on Saturday where he submitted letters of support of 42 MLAs to governor K. Sankarnarayanan.

Coming out of Raj Bhavan, Mr Soren said he has submitted support letters of BJP (18), AJSU (5) and one Independent, Bandhu Tirkey. Since JMM has 18 MLAs, Mr Soren has support of a total 42 MLAs, one more than required to form the government.

He said two JD-U MLAs -- Sudha Chaudhary and Raja Peter -- and 2 Independents – Chamra Linda and Videsh Singh – are expected to send their letters of support soon, which will make the figure 46, a comfortable number to run the government.

With this, the stage is set for Mr Soren to take over as the chief minister. According to a Raj Bhavan Bhavan official, the governor is scrutinising the Mr Soren’s claim and a decision on extending invitation to him to form the government will be taken soon.

There was jubilation in the JMM camp after Guruji submitted letters of support to the governor. A large number of party workers gathered outside the Raj Bhavan to celebrate the comeback of the veteran Jharkhand leader to power.

This will be the third time that Mr Soren will be sworn in as the chief minister. His earlier two stints, with UPA support, were disastrous. In 2005, he was appointed as the chief minister, but since he could not muster up the required numbers, he had to resign after nine days.

Last year, too, he was made the chief minister, but since he was an MP, he was required to be a member of the state assembly. He contested from Tamar constituency, but lost to Gopal Krishna Patar alias Raja Peter, after which he had to resign. This followed imposition of President’s Rule. He could remain in the post for merely four months.

"With support from BJP and AJSU, I am sure the government will complete its full five-year term," said an elated Mr Soren.

There was disappointment in the UPA camp as they failed to muster support to form the government. A team of senior Congress leaders, led by state president Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu, went to AJSU chief Sudesh Mahato’s residence, but they were kept waiting for three hours. Mr Mahato finally refused to extend support to the UPA.