Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren, who had agreed to share power with the BJP for the remaining term of the government and then did a volte face, on Saturday said “all options” were open for the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and it was for the saffron party to look for them.
“It is for the BJP to look for options. I am in touch with both the Congress and BJP. All options are open. My government will stay,” Mr. Soren, who has to step down as chief minister by June 30 if he is not elected to the Assembly, told newsmen here.
He said he would meet JMM legislators on Sunday in Ranchi and make “a final announcement“.
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On Friday, the JMM chief had said that he had formed the government for five years and it would complete its tenure, after going back on the May 18 agreement with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for sharing power with it on a rotational basis for 28 months each and the BJP to head the government first.
Senior BJP leader M. M. Joshi, speaking on the frequent change of stand by the JMM, had said in Delhi on Friday that Jharkhand “has become a theatre of the absurd.”
Mr. Soren, whose voting for the UPA during a cut motion in the Lok Sabha on April 28 led the BJP to withdraw support to his government, has to find a constituency to enter the Assembly by June end. He is currently an MP.
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He failed to enter the Assembly during his second stint, losing a bypoll from Tamar constituency in January 2009, leading to imposition of President’s Rule for a year.
His first term in 2005 lasted just nine days.
The JMM and the BJP have 18 MLAs each and the Soren government is running with the support of two JDU legislators and five from the AJSU, besides two others.
Mr. Soren had on Friday said that there was no deadline for his resignation.