Parliament approves President’s rule in Jharkhand

NEW DELHI - The Parliament on Thursday approved the imposition of the President’s rule in Jharkhand.

As the members of the Opposition staged uproar against the Central Government on the issue of price rise, a statutory resolution approving the Central rule was put to vote and adopted by voice vote in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

In the Rajya Sabha, the resolution was moved by Minister of State for Home Affairs Mulapally Ramachandran, and passed without any debate.

In the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken placed the resolution for vote, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Samajwadi Party leaders created uproar over the issue of price rise.

The measure was adopted by a voice vote amidst the din.

The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs had approved the imposition of President’s rule in Jharkhand on June 1.

The move came after Jharkhand Governor MOH Farooq’s report to the Centre on the fluid political situation in the state. The governor met representatives of all political parties before submitting his report.

On April 28, the BJP parliamentary board decided to withdraw support to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led coalition Government after the then Chief Minister Sibu Soren voted in-favour of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (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.

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)