Congress and JMM hold talks on government formation in Jharkhand

RANCHI: With President's Rule scheduled to end in Jharkhand on July 18, JMM and Congress leaders today held talks on the possibility of formation of a government in the state.

AICC General Secretary Shakeel Ahmed, Congress in-charge of the state B K Hariprasad, JPCC president Sukhdeo Bhagat and CLP leader R P Singh called on JMM supremo Shibu Soren and his son, Hemant. "They called on Guruji (Shibu Soren) and Hemant Soren to discuss government formation," JMM General Secretary Suprio Bhattacharya said here.

A Congress leader said Ahmed, Prasad and some other party leaders would leave for Delhi to carry on the dialogue with the JMM there amidst heightened possibility of government formation with the support of RJD and some independent MLAs. "I will tell you tomorrow," Hemant Soren, a former deputy chief minister, said when asked about the initiatives on government formation.

RJD's Legislature Party leader Annapurna Devi, said, "We don't know anything about their initiatives on government formation. Nobody has contacted us."

"Why didn't they take this initiative after President's rule was imposed? Why this delayed?" she asked. She, however, said, the party would abide by RJD chief Lalu Prasad's directives.

With 36 MLAs -- JMM (18), Congress (13) and RJD (5) -- Congress and the JMM leaders were banking on the support of some independent MLAs for a simple majority of 42 in the 82-member Assembly.

A couple of independent MLAs had been in the erstwhile BJP-JMM coalition government in the state before the JMM withdrew support on January 8 this year, leading to the imposition of central rule on January 18.
CPI-ML (L), Marxist Coordination Party, Jharkhand Party (Ekka), Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch and Jai Bharat Samta Party have one member each besides an Independent. The initial reluctance of Congress for government formation was understandable as the party had faced severe criticism for propping an independent Madhu Koda-led government in the state. Koda later got embroiled in serious corruption cases.

Besides, there are cases pending against some JMM leaders even now. "We have insisted on a clean government in the state and JMM has to deliver on that," a senior leader said.

JVM (P), which had forged an alliance with Congress for the 2009 assembly elections, parted ways with it in April last year over the FDI issue, a separation, which also worked towards Congress-JMM coming together.

If both RJD as well as AJSU support any government-formation excerise, Congress and JMM will not have to look towards JD(U) or independents. AJSU had voted for JMM candidate in Rajya Sabha elections last year. Political uncertainties have dogged Jharkhand and the state coming under President's Rule for the third time since it was carved out from Bihar in 2000.

Earlier the state was placed under President's rule in 2009 and 2010.