Soren frontrunner as Jharkhand CM

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren today emerged as the frontrunner to become the next chief minister of the state, as results to the Assembly elections presented a hung Assembly.

Soren, with 18 MLAs in the 81-seat Assembly, is likely to get the support of the BJP (20 MLAs), as the saffron party is desperate for a comeback. The BJP’s president, Nitin Gadkari met former party chief Rajnath Singh and decided to clinch power in Jharkhand. The Congress is still trying to form the government by keeping the JMM out of the chief minister’s post. In case the JMM doesn’t agree, it is ready to provide outside support to the JMM for the sake of a “secular government”.

The ruling coalition will require at least 41 MLAs to get a majority but as there are several independent MLAs, Guruji (as Soren is fondly called among many tribals) would not find it difficult to form the new government. “The party’s stand is whoever will support Guruji for chief ministership, will get our support,” JMM secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said. Senior JMM leader Hemlal Murmu said in Ranchi: “We will try to form a JMM-led government. As a second option, we will see which combination can provide a stable government.”

The BJP’s Parliamentary Board met in the evening and decided to leave the issue to Gadkari to take the final call. It, however, said the party was keeping all options open. After its consecutive defeats in Lok Sabha polls followed by state elections of Haryana, Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP is unlikely to lose this opportunity of participating in a government.

After contesting the Assembly polls alone, the JMM has come out as the second largest party. Soren currently enjoys the status of a ‘kingmaker’ as forming a government without him is very difficult. The Congress and the BJP—the two national parties—have already started negotiations with him. While the BJP is ready to leave the chief ministership for Soren, the Congress brass has made it clear that it would not support him as the chief minister.