NATION | Monday, May 24, 2010


BJP to withdraw support to Soren Govt today

Vijay Deo Jha/PNS | Ranchi/Delhi

The ongoing political crisis in Jharkhand seems to have made certain the divorce between the BJP and JMM. Former BJP president Rajnath Singh, on behalf of the national leadership of the party, has conveyed to chief ministerial candidate Arjun Munda and State party president Raghuwar Das to withdraw support to the JMM-led coalition Government.

The State BJP would withdraw support to the Soren Government on Monday, said State BJP spokesman Sanjay Seth. A BJP delegation led by Jharkhand Deputy Chief Minister Raghuwar Das will meet Governor MOH Farooq on Monday morning to hand over the letter of withdrawal of support to the JMM Government, sources said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shibu Soren on Sunday claimed that he had a “pending offer” of a berth in the Union Cabinet and said he would consider it when he felt like accepting it.

“Yes, the offer has been there for quite some time. But I will accept it when I feel like,” Soren told mediapersons in Bokaro when asked if he had any offer of a berth in the Union Cabinet. On Saturday, Soren had said that all options were open for the JMM and he was in touch with the Congress. Soren said he continued to be the Chief Minister of Jharkhand and would complete his tenure.

The BJP’s national vice-president and party in-charge of Jharkhand affairs Karuna Shukla, meanwhile, told PTI, “I can only say that the final outcome will come at the earliest.”

Earlier in the day, the BJP had said that it would wait till May 25 to take a final decision on the issue of support. “I do not want to give an untimely reaction to current political crisis in Jharkhand. Let us wait till May 25 when Soren has to resign. BJP parliamentary body will settle the matter for all,” BJP national vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told The Pioneer.

Looking for an honourable exit point from the ‘theatre of absurd’ --- as Murli Manohar Joshi told about the political impasse between the BJP and the JMM --- sources in the BJP suggested that the party had no more options left except withdrawal of support if Soren refuses to step down to honour the deal.

“The BJP is a national party and it must behave accordingly…as per agreement with JMM, Soren has to relinquish the post by May 25. We should wait till this time,” Naqvi said on Sunday afternoon.

The BJP has been watching the move of the Congress that has just entered into the scene. Sources in the BJP claimed that a few of the JMM MLAs are still in the favour of the BJP-led Government. “What they speak publicly against a BJP-led Government but there are a few JMM MLAs who are in our support,” a senior office bearer of the BJP said.

Senior BJP leader Saryu Rai, who opposed any alliance with the JMM right from the first day, termed the very division in the JMM quite natural.

“Two years back during the Rajya Sabha election, there was a vertical split in the JMM when the party MLAs got divided on the name of supporting the BJP and the Congress. Two years later the JMM has been facing the same situation. That time a big corporate honcho was involved in wheeling-dealing…today people of same feather are fomenting trouble in the JMM,” Rai said this at a Press conference.

He reminded the past statement of JMM MLA Hemlal Murmu, who publicly accepted that Soren as per agreement has to resign by May 25 under the formula of the rotation of CM post to the BJP for first 28 months.

Meanwhile, the Congress is learnt to be working on the strategy to engage the JMM in negotiation. But then the Congress has no convincing roadmap to the JMM to form an alternative Government and the party is not sure whether its key ally JVM having 11 MLAs will be the part of a deal. But the RJD with five MLAs is ready to join Congress’ effort to form Government to kick out the BJP.

Sources in the Congress said that Central Congress leadership is not keen to form Government with the help of the JMM. And on an occasion, party sources said, it lambasted State leadership for showing unnecessary enthusiasm to form Government.

“But then, we can mar the prospect of the Government formation. We have not been stopped from doing so. Initial results are encouraging,” a senior Congress leader said. Ranchi once again became the centre stage of the State politics after staying in Bokaro for a couple of days.

Soren returned to Ranchi on Sunday night. A couple of JMM MLAs, including Teklal Mahato, Simon Marandi and Lobin Hembrom, who reportedly shifted their base to New Delhi searching the prospect of a new Government with UPA are expected to return on Monday/Tuesday night.