Monster who finished Soren Picture by Mukesh

Lonely standing on boundry line

Soren loses But opts to remain in power game

Vijay Deo Jha/Anupam Rana Tamar/Ranchi Friday, January 9, 2009 National Edition Front Page


The defeat of Chief Minister and UPA candidate Shibu Soren in the Tamar by-election at the hands of Jharkhand Party candidate Gopal Krishna Patar alias Raja Peter has raised questions about the fate of the UPA Government in the State.

Soren, who got 25,154 votes, lost the election by a margin of 8,973 votes against his rival Peter whereas AJSU candidate Vijay Singh Manki garnered 17,047 votes. The JD (U) candidate -- Vasundhara Munda, the wife of slain JD (U) MLA Ramesh Singh Munda -- slipped to the fourth position. A total of 1,06,910 voters exercised their franchise.

As both Soren and former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda descended in the Capital, the Congress started mulling various alternatives like installing an alternative Chief Minister or going in for President's rule in the State.
The party, which has nine MLAs in the 81-member Assembly, clearly said it would not play a decisive role in choosing the next Chief Minister. The party leaders, however, hinted that Soren would have to go. All India Congress Committee in-charge of Jharkhand Ajay Maken said: "We are not power-hungry. We won't take any lead in forming the next Government. However, if a new Government has to take over, the UPA allies would have to discuss and decide. Technically, the UPA is still in a majority."

Maken said the party was consulting constitutional experts on the situation which had emerged in Jharkhand. He, however, gave broad hints that Soren should step down as it was one of the rarest cases where a sitting Chief Minister had lost an election.

The Congress would not want to be the one to pull the plug. Sources said there was a strong possibility of Soren's wife or son being made the next CM. However, there was also the option of imposing President's rule in the State. A section in the party felt that the Congress had completely lost out in the State.

This section of the Congress had even favoured pulling down the Koda Government last year. However, the party was then counting on Soren's MPs for the trust vote in Parliament. This time round, there is no such compulsion. Senior leaders pointed out that it would be a good opportunity for the Congress to find its feet in the State. If the President's rule is imposed, there would be fresh elections.

A senior leader said: "We know that if Assembly elections take place, we will be in the Opposition. But at least we would be able to carve a separate identity as the main Opposition then. Right now we are living in the shadow of JMM and Koda's mis-governance."

Jharkhand is seen as a State where 'everything goes'. It could well be the only State where independent MLAs can form a Government and many Ministers keep shuttling between the UPA and NDA only to ensure that they continue being in the Cabinet.

But word is doing the rounds as to why Raja Peter, who has emerged as the 'Mahaguru' after defeating the 'Dishom Guru', cannot be appointed the next CM?