Uttarakhand, Delhi, Jharkhand may see more political churn

After the resignation by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Bihar, parties and analysts fear more in at least Jharkhand, Delhi and Uttarakhand.

A BJP leader in Jharkhand said they would be requesting the leadership for a suspension of the state government, which doesn't enjoy a full majority, at the earliest. "The Jharkhand government is on the brink of collapse anyway because two of its sitting legislators have walked over to other parties and contested Lok Sabha elections. They have won."

Jharkhand is a state where no party has been able to form a stable government since its formation in 2000. The mandate has been fractured and divided between 13 parties, including the BJP and the Congress. Of 81 seats, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have 18 each. The Congress and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha have 14 and 11 members, respectively, in the Assembly. Rest are shared between the All Jharkhand Students Union, Rashtriya Janata Dal and others.

Hemant Soren-led JMM, in alliance with the Congress, rules the state.

After the Lok Sabha results, the BJP cadre is upbeat that the party would be able to form the first stable government in Jharkhand with an absolute majority. The BJP won 12 of 14 seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections in the state.

There are enough indications of the BJP not making claims to form the government in Delhi, where the Assembly is in suspended animation since chief minister Arvind Kejriwal resigned after 49 days. Though the BJP has the most seats, it is still short of four.

The buzz in Delhi BJP is former Indian Police Service officer Kiran Bedi is being groomed for the chief ministerial post. "She has a credible face and we are telling the central leaders to push for early elections in the state so we can reap the benefits from the Modi wave," said a leader.

The Uttarakhand situation appears similar to Bihar, where the Congress-led state government is facing dissent from many legislators. The Congress barely scraped through in the 2012 assembly elections.

The state has 70 seats, of which the Congress has 32 and the BJP has 31 legislators respectively. Three seats are with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the rest are with the smaller parties and independents.

The BJP has already demanded resignation of Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat, whose party lost all the five seats in Lok Sabha elections on May 16.

The assembly polls in Jharkhand are due in October-November, so the Election Commission may find it convenient to hold elections in Delhi, Uttarakhand (if the government falls) along with Maharashtra and Haryana.