Hectic parleys continue as stalemate over Govt. formation in Jharkhand continues

RANCHI - Hectic political parleys continued in Jharkhand on Monday, as uncertainty over the formation of a new Government prevailed in the state following former Chief Minister Shibu Soren’s resignation.

Shibu Soren resigned from his post on late Sunday evening after he called on the State Governor M O H Farook.oren submitted his papers to the Jharkhand Governor at the Raj Bhavan.

Soren’s resignation came just hours before proving majority on the floor of the House.

He was scheduled to seek the Vote of Confidence in the floor of the Assembly on Monday.

Earlier this morning, Governor M O H Farook called all the major parties of the State for deliberations on formation of a new government, in a bid to avoid President’s rule in the state.

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) chief Babulal Marandi demanded the imposition of President’s rule in the state, as none of the political alliances have the required numbers of MLAs in the state assembly to stake a claim for the government.

“We told the Governor that if there would be any possibility of forming the government in the leadership of JVM and Congress, we will definitely come and meet the governor. But there is no possibility today, so he should impose President’s rule in the state,” said Marandi, after meeting the Governor.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the other hand has asked the Governor for some more time, before they can decide on the future course of action.

“At 6 p.m. in the evening we will hold a meeting in our party office of the main leaders of the party and discuss the offer given to us by the governor. After the discussion, we will let His Excellency, the Governor, about our decision,” said Raghuvar Das, Jharkhand BJP President.

Meanwhile, the Congress has said that they are trying to work out all permutations and combinations to reach the magic figure of 41 MLAs to form the government in the state.

On April 28, the BJP parliamentary board decided to withdraw support to the JMM-led coalition government after Soren voted in-favour of the UPA Government during a cut motion in the Lok Sabha.

However, the decision was put on hold when JMM legislature Party leader and Soren’s son Hemant wrote a letter to BJP President Nitin Gadkari pledging support to a BJP-led government in the state.

The JMM, however, backtracked and demanded rotational power sharing, with each party leading the government for a period of 28 months.

This was agreed by the BJP on the understanding that Soren will quit as Chief Minister by May 25 after which Arjun Munda would head the new coalition government.

On Saturday, Soren had said he was weighing all options, including a deal with the Congress to continue in power.

The JMM and the BJP have 18 MLAs each and the Soren Government has the support of two Janata Dal (United) legislators and five from the All Jharkhand Student’s Union (AJSU), besides two others in the 82-member Assembly.

The Congress has 14 MLAs, Jharkhand Vikas Manch (JVM) has 11 MLAs and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has five MLAs. (ANI)