An isolated Shibu Soren resigned as Jharkhand Chief Minister on Sunday evening after failing to get the support of the Congress and its ally Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik ahead of Monday's trust vote in the assembly.
Six JVM-P MLAs joined the BJP-led coalition in the state assembly.
The Maoist-infested state needs a visionary leader and Hemant Soren is definitely not one, opines Aditi Phadnis
Since 2018, the BJP has failed to win a majority in any of the state polls. It lost power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in 2018 followed by Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The party managed to form government in Karnataka by winning over opposition MLAs and in Haryana by allying with a regional party.
Tribals will observe a day's fast on January 30 at Ulihatu in Khunti district, the birthplace of tribal icon Birsa Munda, in solidarity with their movement to 'save' the Parasnath hills, a member of a joint forum of Adiva bodies said.
Jharkhand is all set for a spell of President's rule with no party or combination of parties in a position to form a government in the wake of fall of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition last week.
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The central election committee of the party met on Monday to finalize the list of candidates, but the exercise is being done in a vacuum since the party is still unclear of whether it is going ahead with any allies or not. The party is still negotiating with Babulal Marandi for seat sharing, with Ahmed Patel Sonia's political secretary, admitting that discussions are still on with him but so far there is not much headway.
A cut motion was passed on the floor of the assembly soon after seven ministers resigned.
The election agent of the candidate, Brahmanand Netam, said he has submitted a reply to the Jharkhand police on the leader's behalf stating Netam is busy with electioneering.
The Election Commission on Saturday announced five-phase election dates for Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir
A Lok Sabha member, Soren secured 42 votes in his favour against 34 after a day long debate on the trust vote moved by officiating parliamentary affairs minister Stephen Marandi. In all 76 members participated in the voting.
The move comes a day after the government called a special session of Parliament between September 18 and 22, the agenda for which is under wraps.
The mood in the tribal heartland in the east and in central India spread over Odisha, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and parts of West Bengal and Assam, is upbeat.
Although conventional political wisdom would decree that the construction of a 'magnificent' Ram temple at his 'birth-place' would bring the BJP a big yield of votes in the prospective elections, its leaders know by now that the mandir must not exist in isolation in its game plan, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
The Aam Aadmi Party, Delhi's ruling party, is already in election mode.
'Kejriwal could have easily deputed someone to step in as chief minister, but being the authoritative and self-centered personality that he is, he chose not to do it.' 'If the AAP loses Delhi, where it has a huge majority, the only one to blame would be Kejriwal,' asserts Ramesh Menon.
With 18 assembly seats in his kitty, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren on Thursday said the results indicated his popularity and expressed his desire to form the government in Jharkhand, which has given a fractured verdict. "The JMM is the single largest party and I should be given the chance to form the government," said Soren, who has emerged as the king-maker after the results of the state assembly polls were declared on Wednesday.
While the BJP and the Congress have always supported the bill, opposition by other parties and demands from some for quota for backward classes within the women's quota have been key sticking points.
The Congress will begin the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from the violence-hit Manipur on Sunday, in what is being seen as the party's bid to set the narrative in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls and put the spotlight on issues such as unemployment, price rise and social justice.
Citing the upcoming assembly elections in Jharkhand, the Indian Olympic Association on Friday postponed the 34th National Games for the fifth time in two years.
As the tussle appeared getting out of hand, the two lawmakers disengaged and went their separate ways.
Cricket climate change to medical practice, dropped candidates have their non-political life sorted.
Their leader and assembly speaker has convened the House on Monday.
Ending a fortnight-long stalemate, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and All Jharkhand Students Union on Saturday announced support to a Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Jharkhand for the remaining four-and-a-half year tenure of the state assembly. The decision was arrived at a meeting attended by BJP president Nitin Gadkari, senior party leader Ananth Kumar, Jharkhand Deputy Chief Minister Raghubar Das, JMM legislature party leader Hemant Soren.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday assured the country that the beginning of building a "new and developed Kashmir" that will be free from terrorism has been made under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that full statehood would be restored to Jammu and Kashmir at an appropriate time.
The Congress on Thursday renamed the Rahul Gandhi-led Manipur-Mumbai yatra starting on January 14 as the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which will travel through 100 Lok Sabha segments in 15 states including Arunachal Pradesh, and asserted it will prove to be as 'transformative' as his earlier cross-country march.
Ten months into President's rule, imposed after no alliance could stake claim to form a seventh government, the Jharkhand electorate will choose their government when the first of the five-phase assembly elections gets underway on November 25. Campaigning in Jharkhand ended on Monday and a total of 11,42,150 people are eligible to vote for 26 out of the 80 seats in the first phase, according to Election Commission sources in Ranchi.
Counting of votes will be held today in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand which witnessed a record turnout in the multi-cornered contests to elect their assemblies.
According to Congress sources, Marandi's party has agreed contest 19 of the 81 seats in the state. There will also be friendly fights in six seats, in which both parties were unable to come to a settlement.
The first phase, polling for which will take place on February 3, will cover the entire 90 seats in Haryana, 64 of the 243 seats in Bihar and 24 of the 81 seats in Jharkhand.
The JMM would contest 35 seats and the Congress 33. The remaining 13 seats in the 81-member house have gone to the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Left parties.
"I met the Governor and informed him that he was constitutionally not bound to accept the recommendation of House dissolution taken by a minority government," Jharkhand PCC Chief Pradeep Kumar Balmachu told reporters at the Raj Bhavan after calling on Ahmed
Allies of embattled Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren have demanded that he quit immediately to clear the political uncertainty, following his failure to enter the state assembly."We all adhere to the Constitution. And Guruji (Soren) should have resigned immediately after his defeat in the Tamar bypoll. He should resign forthwith," Deputy Chief Minister Stephen Marandi said.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh cited the prime minister's speech made in Barmer on Wednesday and said the people of the state will surely respond to such "arrogance" of the prime minister.
In Phase 6, indications are that the BJP, which is defending 40 seats, will lose in double digits and gain in single digits. Not good, if you are the ruling party scrambling to earn a working majority, with just one phase left to go, argues Prem Panicker.
The former Congress president alleged that PM Modi had a "monopoly over corruption".
The BJP has changed five chief ministers since 2019, including in Gujarat and Karnataka.
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