As the suspense over the continuation of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's reign as the CM remains, UPA urged the Governor to make public the Election Commission's ruling on Soren over a mining lease case.
The UPA alliance, with JMM, Congress and RJD, said the Governor's move was encouraging "horse-trading" by delaying the announcement.
After a series of meetings, the coalition in a joint press conference urged Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais to clear the confusion prevailing in the state for the past four days.
Rumours were also rife that the ruling coalition was considering 'resort politics' to keep its MLAs safe in case of poaching by the BJP. In the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, the UPA has a strength of 49 MLAs, which means that the balance could tilt against the coalition if more than 8 MLAs decide to switch sides.
The JMM-Congress-RJD coalition government assumed power in the state on December 29, 2021 last year, ousting the BJP- led regime.
As uncertainty prevails over whether or not Hemant Soren will continue, here's how the numbers stack up in the Jharkhand Assembly:
Jharkhand Mukti Motcha (JMM): 30 (Part of UPA)
Congress: 18 (Part of UPA)
RJD: 1 (Part of UPA)
BJP: 26
Others: 6
The BJP in February this year alleged that Soren, while heading the mining department, allotted a stone chips mining lease to himself in 2021 in Ranchi’s Argora area, by flouting norms. The party accused Soren of allocating a mining lease to himself and close aides, including political advisor Pankaj Mishra.
It has now sought Soren’s disqualification for violating Section 9 (A) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The clause states that “a person shall be disqualified if, and for so long as, there subsists a contract entered into by him in the course of his trade or business with the appropriate government for the supply of goods to, or for the execution of any works undertaken by, that government”.
(With agency inputs)