When it is Peter, Hamlet rules Ekka’s mind

Vijay Deo Jha Ranchi Saturday, December 13, 2008

Hamlet seems to rule the mind of Ainosh Ekka on whether he should withdraw Raja Peter from the electoral battlefield of Tamar where Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren is contesting as an official candidate of the UPA or not.

"Either withdraw Peter or be ready to face your removal from the Cabinet", was the one-line remark and demarche served by Soren against his Minister when for the first time he officially said that he took a serious note of the fact that one of the Ministers of his Cabinet was ready to politically finish him off.

Speaking on condition of anonymity one of the close confidants of the Minister said: "We are in a precarious situation and do not know what to do about this."

Leave aside the political hectoring which Soren used to browbeat his Minister to dump Peter he has one of the potential weapons in his arsenal- Ekka is facing corruption charges which could be used to tame him. Well-placed sources in the Jharkhand Party confided that the Minister might cave-in and withdraw Peter to ensure 'safe passage' for Soren who fears the Peter factor might torpedo his chances.

Even the beleaguered Minister was caught in the same frame of mind when he was asked to explain his position on this. "I will think over this whether I should withdraw Peter or not." It will only be decided on December 15, the last day of the withdrawal of names whether Ekka finally comes out of his Hamlet like dilemma and decides whether he should stick to the Cabinet or side with the decision of his party that is still adamant about fielding Peter. The Minister had to face a salvo of attack from the leaders of the UPA in the meting, held on Thursday, at the residence of Soren. Speaking over this Sukhdeo Bhagat, Congress MLA from Lohardaga who was present at the meeting said: "You cannot have the privy to be in the State Cabinet and the UPA and oppose the official nominee of the UPA in the election at the same time."

The Minister must be removed from the Cabinet for going against the official line of the UPA that has decided to support Soren, he added. He claimed to have raised this demand in the meeting also.

Well-placed sources in the UPA hinted that Peter would finally withdraw his nomination as some sort of 'bartering' is going on. What sort of bartering it could be _ the sources added it could be anything but not to be revealed at this point of time.

The UPA will leave no stone unturned to secure the victory of Soren in the by-election knowing well the ground reality. The ground reality could be harder for Soren if Peter who lost the Assembly election last time by a thin margin refuses to toe the UPA line. Peter said that he would not withdraw and certainly fight the election. Talking to The Pioneer he said he would also lodge a complaint with the Election Commission as he was being pressurized to withdraw.