Unnoticed by the rest of the world, a bizarre drama was played out in Jharkhand recently -- that is, even more bizarre than the claims made by Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren's aides that Soren voted for the United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha because he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, so he forgot that it was the National Democratic Alliance which was supporting his government in Jharkhand.
In his letter, Soren conceded that his support to the UPA government during the cut motion moved by the Opposition was a mistake. He pleaded with Swaraj for justice for the people of Jharkhand.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren will have to face a united and determined Opposition when he decides to contest a by-election to become a member of the Legislative Assembly, as all Opposition parties have decided to put up a consensus candidate against him, Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Pradip Kumar Balmuchu said on Monday.In order to retain the chief ministership, Soren must be elected to the assembly as a Member of Legislative Assembly.
Just a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh celebrated two years of the UPA-II rule, the Bhartiya Janata Party slapped a Rs 85,000-crore (Rs 850 billion) coal scam on him, claiming his direct culpability in the 'loot' as he held the portfolio between 2006 and 2009 since after coal minister Shibu Soren had resigned.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren called on Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi on Wednesday and briefed him on the various measures taken by his government to tackle Naxals.
Accepting a key demand of Maoists for safe release of an abducted Jharkhand block development officer, Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren on Wednesday night said the legal process has begun to free some of the jailed persons who the Naxals claimed to be innocent.
Senior BJP leader L K Advani will skip the swearing-in ceremony of Arjun Munda as Chief Minister of Jharkhand on Saturday amidst reports that he was unhappy over the formation of the government with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
Over three months after it parted ways with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday again came together with Shibu Soren's party and staked claim to form a new government in Jharkhand which has been under President's Rule since June 1.
Jharkhand Mukthi Morcha chief Shibu Soren was on Wednesday sworn in as chief minister of Jharkhand for the third time, along with two ministers from coalition partners, ending almost a year-long spell of President's rule in the state.
Bharatiya Janata Party's newly appointed national president Nitin Gadkari on Monday paid a courtesy visit to saffron ally, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray at latter's residence in Mumbai.
"The BJP and AJSU have agreed to support the JMM under the leadership of Guruji (Soren)," party Vice-President Hemlal Murmu told media persons hours after JMM legislature party elected Soren as its leader and authorised him to explore government formation. JMM has 18 MLAs, same as that of BJP, and AJSU has five members in the 81-member House. If BJP's ally Janata Dal-United with two MLAs also back JMM's bid to form government, its strength will go up to 43.
A local court acquitted former Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren in the 1974 Kudko double murder case for lack of evidence on Tuesday.
A large section of the Congress - an ally of the coalition government in Jharkhand - initially preferred President's Rule. But Congress President Sonia Gandhi had to change her mind today as RJD chief Lalu Prasad is keen to see that the Jharkhand government continues with a new chief minister.
Amidst tight security, polling for the Tamar assembly constituency began on Monday morning.Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren is among the 15 candidates contesting for the seat, which had fallen vacant after Janata Dal - United legislature party leader Ramesh Singh Munda was killed by suspected Maoists on July 9 last year.The results will be announced on January 8.
Expressing surprise over Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to withdraw support to the Shibu Soren government, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on Monday said the party chief would choose his allies in the run up to the floor test but did not come clear if any deal was made with the Congress.
Frustrated over the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha backtracking on its power-sharing deal in Jharkhand, the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to withdraw support to the Shibu Soren government on Monday that it will plunge the state into another spell of political crisis.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on Tuesday decided to share power on rotational basis for the remaining term of the Jharkhand assembly, with the saffron party to be the first to take over.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni would get enhanced security cover as Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren has asked the police chief to tighten the security cover of the cricketer. Soren's direction came in the wake of Dhoni's going to the Birsa Munda airport in Ranchi on Thursday without any "armed men" to board a flight to Chennai to participate in the selection committee meeting.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Legislative Party leader Hemant Soren on Thursday submitted his resignation letter as an MLA to his father Shibu Soren and offered his Dumka seat to the Jharkhand chief minister to contest and enter the state assembly.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday put on hold its decision to withdraw support to Shibu Soren government in Jharkhand and appears to have made up its mind to heading a government weighing the pros and cons of having a non-tribal chief minister.
The Congress's Jharkhand unit on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of 'greed for power' which, it said, has led the saffron party to put on hold withdrawal of support to the Shibu Soren government in the state.Alleging that the BJP was again 'playing the game of numbers', a Congress release said "Frequent change of decisions among the BJP and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has not left Jharkhand reeling under a political crisis".
Koda, scheduled to face a trial of strength in a special session of the assembly on August 25, had been insisting on a meeting of the UPA to sort out the differences instead of airing views here and there. The chief minister added that he would place his views to them of his performance in past two years, which he thought would justify his claim to complete the tenure.
With the Jharkhand governor asking Chief Minister Madhu Koda to prove his majority within a week, the scene of political activities is likely to shift to the national capital. Both the claimants -- Koda and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren -- plan to come to Deolhi to influence senior United Progressive Alliance leaders to support their cause.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Bharatiya Janata Party's spokesperson, has confirmed that Shibu Soren is not acceptable to them as the chief minister of Jharkhand and the election commission should fresh election. the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal had already rejected Soren's claim, to chief ministership, who had withdrawan support to Madhu Koda government.
Treading cautiously, Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren on Monday said he was not against using force to curb Naxalism, but maintained that if the solution lay in talks then there was no need for a "confrontation".
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which had once dubbed Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supremo Shibu Soren as 'tainted', on Wednesday saw nothing wrong in making him the chief minister of Jharkhand, saying it was a strategy to thwart attempts to break up parties or continue with President's Rule in the state. Newly-appointed BJP chief Nitin Gadkari said his party would support the JMM for five years. But he evaded a query on what the BJP will do the Supreme Court rules against Soren.
Though the Bharatiya Janata Party has managed to forge an alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha for government formation in Jharkhand, there is no clarity as of now on whether the Shibu Soren-led party will become part of the National Democratic Alliance.
Shibu Soren, who is all set to become the next chief minister of Jharkhand, on Monday said the new alliance comprising Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Bharatiya Janata Party and the All Jharkhand Students Union will provide a stable government in the mineral-rich state."Jharkhand needs a stable government and we are confident of providing one," the JMM chief said at a joint press conference with BJP president Nitin Gadkari.Soren said he was aware of the functioning of Gadkari.
Jharkhand Mukthi Morcha leader, Shibu Soren, who heads a 44-member coalition in Jharkhand, will be sworn in on December 30 after Governor K Sankarananaryanan invited him to form the government.
As Shibu Soren hopes for yet another innings as Jharkhand chief minister, the family of his slain ex-secretary said on Saturday that the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief should not be allowed to take up the job as the appeal against his acquittal in the murder case was pending before the Supreme Court.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supremo Shibu Soren is all set to become the Jharkhand chief minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Janata Dal (United) and the All Jharkhand Students Union.
The Congress is working on stitching together a coalition government in Jharkhand minus Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren, who is not interested in discussing any deal which does not make him the chief minister of the state.
With the Congress and its allies winning 25 seats and emerging as the single largest alliance in Jharkhand, the party has begun exploring options of forming the next government in the state realising that they have to do business with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Shibu Soren who now controls the levers of power in the state having won 18 seats in the assembly elections.
Jharkhand was headed for a hung assembly on Wednesday as the Congress and its ally Jharkhand Vikas Morcha gained an edge by leading in 24 seats in the 81-member House. As the counting of votes progressed, Shibu Soren-led JMM emerged as the likely kingmaker, leading in 15 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party - Janata Dal-United combine gave the Congress tough competition by leading in 23 seats.The Congress is contesting the elections with Babulal Marandi-led JVM.
The Congress on Tuesday remained undecided whether to go it alone in poll-bound Jharkhand or tie up with regional parties.
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.
Once an apprentice with Tata Steel, 46-year-old Gopal Krishna Patar now proudly carries the 'giant killer' tag after humbling Jharkhand chief minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supremo Shibu Soren in the by-election to the Tamar assembly constituency
Soren losing to Jharkhand Party candidate Gopal Krishna by a margin of 9000 votes clearly shows that the people of Jharkhand have rejected him to continue as the chief minister, BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told media persons in New Delhi on Thursday.
The BJP on Monday withdrew its support to the nearly five-month-old JMM-led government in Jharkhand reducing it to a minority, following which Chief Minister Shibu Soren was asked by the Governor to prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly by May 31.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has asked the Bharatiya Janata Party to share power with them in Jharkhand on 50:50 basis, two days after the saffron party said it would head the coalition for the rest of the tenure (four and half years) of the present house.
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