UPA to back Soren govt?
Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren tries his hands at a musical instrument as sadhus sing bhajans at his residence in Bokaro.
Speculation was rife in Jharkhand on Saturday about a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-UPA government being formed after May 25, the deadline agreed between the JMM and the Bharatiya Janata Party for the resignation of embattled chief minister and JMM chief Shibu Soren for a BJP-led government to take charge.
Mr Soren set Jharkhand’s political circles aflutter by saying in Bokaro on Saturday that his party was already in talks with both the BJP and the Congress for formation of an alternative government.
His statement assumed significance in view of the fact that a number of Congress leaders had met him in Bokaro on Friday and Saturday. Mr Soren is in Bokaro in connection with the first death anniversary rituals of his eldest son, Surga Soren.
Even as Jharkhand’s tight-lipped BJP leaders said their strategy would be decided only after the May 25 deadline, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha sources said initiatives for installing a UPA-JMM government were already in motion in Delhi, where four JMM legislators opposed to a JMM-BJP government are camping since Thursday.
The rebel Jharkhand Mukti Morcha legislators in Delhi — Teklal Mahto, Simon Marandi, Nalin Soren and Lubin Hembrum — are reportedly working as a liaison between Mr Soren and the Congress central leadership.
Meanwhile, JMM sources also claimed that Bandhu Tirkey, an independent MLA who was a minister in the two previous JMM-UPA governments in Jharkhand and had withdrawn support from Mr Soren’s JMM-BJP government, was likely to reach Delhi from Kolkata with four MLAs to join the four JMM legislators.
Congress legislature party leader Rajendra Singh, who was one of the Congress leaders who met Mr Soren in Bokaro on Friday, said his party was still “waiting and watching for the outcome of May 25”.
Jharkhand Congress president Pradip Kumar Balmuchu said: “We cannot do anything unless there is a separation between the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the BJP. We will see what we can do after it happens”.
A senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, requesting anonymity, said: “We do not pay attention to media reports. If our agreement with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is not respected by Mr Soren till May 25 evening, we are undoubtedly going to withdraw support to this coalition government”.
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