JMM to stay out of UPA govt

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in Ranchi yesterday said it would stay out of the Union Cabinet for the time being but Congress leaders questioned the wisdom of precipitating the Shibu Soren arrest so late in the day, when party spin-doctors had been strenuously trying to defend his inclusion in the Union Cabinet for the past one week.

Leaders admitted that they were feeling red-faced as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had taken the decision he had been expected to take when the warrant against Soren was first issued.

"But the crisis is over now," said a top United Progressive Alliance (UPA) leader in a bid to brush under the carpet what party leaders say is clear display of lack of political acumen on the part of the government.

If the resignation had been obtained earlier, they say, the Opposition would not have got the political mileage it has got.

A more aggressive Congress-JMM together could have turned the tables on the BJP launching an agitation against Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda for trying to harass the state's most revered tribal leader.

The political management of the Soren crisis also brings to the fore, the lack of political bonding between the JMM and the Congress.

In the Rajya Sabha on Friday, when the BJP had trooped to the floor of the House on the Soren issue during Question Hour, not one MP barring Rajiv Shukla of the Congress got up to make even a pretense of defending Soren.

Against this background, the ruling UPA heaved a sigh of relief when the JMM issued a statement yesterday stating that though they were going to stay out of government for the time being, they were solidly behind the UPA.

Charging BJP with digging up decades old cases against Soren, party leader and Rajya Sabha member Stephen Marandi told reporters: "we are not thinking of any ministerial berth...We are thinking of taking the battle to the BJP camp for its logical conclusion."

Asked when the "missing" Soren would "surface", Marandi said, "he is waiting for the High Court verdict. We expect a verdict tomorrow and as soon as it comes Soren would be before you."

To another query as to why he had "disappeared" for nearly a week, he said "Guruji (Soren) wanted to scuttle NDA's plan for unrest in the state. The Arjun Munda government had sent a police team to New Delhi to arrest our leader which would have instantly sparked off violence and bloodshed back home."

"We will not fall in the confrontation net designed by the BJP. Instead of calling bandhs, we will drum up public opinion against the sinister designs of the NDA through peaceful and democratic means."

The week-long drama appears to have polarised political forces in Jhakhand and BJP leaders from Jhakhand say that Soren's resignation is a Pyrrhic victory - although it has resulted in the resignation of one 'tainted' minister, it has mobilised indignant Jharkhand tribals behind the JMM in time for the assembly elections later this year or early next year.

The JMM, Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Left parties are expected to contest the elections together, although the Congress in Jhakhand is already making noises about giving up too much to JMM.