Jharkhand Governor Sibte Razi had on Wednesday asked the chief minister to prove his majority in the assembly on or before September 15 after the latter sought an opportunity for a floor test.
Newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party leader Raghuvar Das on Friday staked claim to form the new government in Jharkhand, three days after the BJP-All Jharkhand Students Union party alliance won a majority in the assembly election.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Hemant Soren, the son of Jharkhand architect Shibu Soren, took the reins of the state as chief minister on Sunday, a week after a three-party coalition, led by him, swept the assembly polls, bagging 47 seats in the 81-member assembly. This will be Soren's second stint as the chief minister of the tribal state. His first had lasted for just about 14 months since July 15 2013.
The lack of clarity on who is next in line, when the time comes, as indeed it will one day some day, reflects poorly on the management of the world's largest political party. It scarcely need be said that a squabble between the contenders, Shah and Yogi, is exactly what the doctor ordered for the Opposition, notes Krishna Prasad.
"What I understand from media reports [is that] some of my party colleagues are at pain following my continuation in the ministry," Radha Krishna Kishore said.
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.
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.
'The Opposition will continue to be attacked through misuse of agencies, civil society will be force-marched towards extinction and India's plummeting on global indices will continue.' 'Minorities and especially Muslims will continue to have open season declared on them. Institutions will continue their decline,' predicts Aakar Patel.
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.
The biggest challenge will be to convert his regime into a coalition of minds. But given the fact that he is instinctively an authoritarian leader and supporter of the hard Hindutva line, the survival of his government will depend on his ability to balance between his heart and mind, between instinct and pragmatism, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
Yadav, who returned from the national capital on Thursday after a trip that lasted three days, asserted that there was "nothing new" in the summons, even as he alleged that the central agencies were acting as per the directions of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
A cut motion was passed on the floor of the assembly soon after seven ministers resigned.
'You can attack and conspire to weaken us, but you cannot destroy the Congress permanently.'
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.
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.
Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held on Friday for 88 seats in 13 states with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala.
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 Aam Aadmi Party, Delhi's ruling party, is already in election mode.
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.
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.
Sources said senior leaders of the party have been told to reach out to other leaders of the alliance and talks with some parties have begun.
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.
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.
As the tussle appeared getting out of hand, the two lawmakers disengaged and went their separate ways.
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.
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.
Do you know how to buy the best lady's fingers? Or choose the best cauliflower?
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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