Musical chairs in Jharkhand, govt by rotation

New Delhi/Ranchi: The political crisis in Jharkhand took a new turn Saturday after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said it will rule the state with the backing of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, but the JMM chief announced unilaterally that both parties will govern by rotation.

After days of political uncertainty and close-door parleys, the BJP announced in New Delhi that it had decided to form a new government in Ranchi with the legislative backing of the JMM and the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU).

The BJP withdrew support to the JMM on April 28, a day after the latter's leader and Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren voted against the BJP-sponsored cut motions in the Lok Sabha.

BJP leader Ananth Kumar said in New Delhi that the BJP, JMM and AJSU had unanimously agreed that the BJP would head the new National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Jharkhand for the remaining four-and-a-half year term of the state assembly.

The JMM pretended to go with it. But once he returned to Ranchi, Shibu Soren surprised everyone by saying that the JMM and the BJP would rule the state by rotation.

"I will quit in two to four days. The BJP and the JMM will rule the state in rotation," Soren told journalists at the Ranchi airport after returning from New Delhi.

The BJP was taken aback.

Speaking to IANS in New Delhi soon afterwards, BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi voiced surprise over Soren's announcement. "That has not been discussed," he said.

But still he sounded optimistic: "Things are moving in a positive direction... Our priority is to give Jharkhand a stable government."

Earlier, Soren's son Hemant and AJSU president Sudesh Mahto, a deputy chief minister, met BJP president Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi to end the turmoil in the state that has seen seven governments in nine years.

"Our state has been in crisis for nine years... We have decided to form the new government, and the new chief minister will be decided by the BJP. It is their decision," Hemant Soren said later.

Mahto added: "We have decided to form a new government led by the BJP."

The decision, he said, was taken to let the NDA coalition complete its full term. "Other terms and conditions are yet to be decided. We will form a common minimum programme."

In no time, Shibu Soren made his unilateral move.

In the 82-member Jharkhand assembly, the JMM and BJP have 18 members each and the AJSU five.

The Congress has 14 members, the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) of former chief minister Babulal Marandi has 11, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has five and the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) two.

The others are mainly Independents.