Although top Congress leaders admitted that letting the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Shibu Soren attempt to form a government in Jharkhand was the most disastrous mistake, this did not prevent Soren leading a United Progressive Alliance (UPA) delegation to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to demand the dismissal of the Arjun Munda government and a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the "large-scale horse-trading coupled with misuse of state machinery" behind its installation. | |
| "The recent developments in Jharkhand have challenged the well-entrenched democratic norms of our country. A kind perusal of the recent sequence of happenings regarding the formation of the NDA government in Jharkhand will reveal that blatant violation of the democratic norms, large-scale horse-trading amounting to several crores of rupees coupled with misuse of state machinery was the order of the day," Soren said in a memorandum to the Prime Minister. |
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| However, on the real agenda "� whether he would get back his berth at the Centre "� Soren said he would consider this, unmindful of the irony that it was the Prime Minister who had to consider it, not him. |
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| Talking to reporters after the 30-minute meeting with Singh, Soren said he informed the Prime Minister that despite a "clear-cut majority", the UPA was deprived of an opportunity to prove it because of "blatant illegal activities of the NDA team, both at the state as well as at the Centre." |
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| Soren alleged that the NDA leaders deliberately misrepresented the facts before the nation so that the "illegal activities of horse trading" could go on unchecked. |
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| "We, therefore, request you to look into our grievances for which a CBI inquiry would positively substantiate our claim," he said. "To uphold the cherished and established democratic norms, it is imperative to dismiss the illegitimate government in Jharkhand," he said. |
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| Asked about the response of the Prime Minister, Soren claimed Singh said "truth will prevail". |
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| On whether he would approach the court to seek justice, the JMM chief said, "I will definitely do so". |
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| In the memorandum, the UPA delegation apprised the Prime Minister in detail about the developments and their demand for dismissal of the Munda government and CBI inquiry. |
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| Stephen Marandi, former Jharkhand Deputy Chief Minister under the short-lived Soren government, said they would be meeting Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and President APJ Abdul Kalam to inform them of their grievances. |
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| "We will also tell them how the parliamentary procedures were flouted by the pro-tem Speaker who finished all the formalities of government formation in the state in the space of 22 minutes," Marandi said. |
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| Soren also dismissed suggestions that it was the UPA partners who created a problem in the state and claimed that they still had a majority in the state as three MLAs were absent on the day of confidence vote due to some reasons. |
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| "There are 41 MLAs with the UPA even today. The truth will come out shortly," he said. |
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| Jharkhand PCC chief Sushila Kerketta, Tek Lal Mahto and Sunil Kumar Mahto (all MPs) and several MLAs were part of the 13-member delegation. |
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