JMM chief wants to remain state CM till June 30.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren is likely to stay as chief minister of Jharkhand at least till Tuesday. It is because the supporting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will decide on Monday about what to do in the politically unstable state.
As of now, the state has both a chief minister and a government. If the BJP decides to pull out support on Monday, it will have neither, as the JMM has refused to be junior partner in the state government.
Through the weekend, JMM leaders held a series of meetings with top BJP leaders, including national president Nitin Gadkari, but a consensus formula to continue the present JMM-BJP alliance failed to emerge. Soren's son, Hemant, who led his party in the discussions, is reported to have stuck to his stand of offering BJP chief minister’s post.
However, in a new twist, the JMM wants its leader, the senior Soren, to continue as the chief minister till June 30, when he will have to resign anyway at the lapse of the six months time to get elected to the state Assembly.
Soren is now a Member of Parliament and had failed to convince any party state legislator to vacate his seat in his favour.
The JMM has assured the BJP of lending its support to a BJP-led government after June 30.
The BJP is, however, cautious of working out such a deal with the regional party, especially since its parliamentary board had already announced withdrawing support to JMM.
However, the saffron party is keeping its cards open as an alliance with the JMM appears to be the only way to install a BJP government in Jharkhand.
The JMM also seems keen to continue with BJP, as an alliance with the Congress would require support of an additional 10 MLAs, which could put the government into further jeopardy. The present crisis had erupted after Soren had voted with the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government during the Opposition-led cut motion in Parliament last week.
