The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's insistence on rotation of the Chief Minister's post has forced the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership to withhold announcement of its Chief Ministerial candidate and begin a round of consultations on the JMM's offer.
Rajnath Singh and Ananth Kumar, two BJP central observers who returned here from Ranchi, briefed party president Nitin Gadkari on the JMM's stand. Mr. Gadkari on Wednesday began the process of consultations with party leaders.
A meeting was held at Mr. Rajnath Singh's residence where, besides Mr. Gadkari, Ananth Kumar, Karuna Shukla and Saudan Singh were present.
One view is that there will be no harm in the BJP conceding the JMM's demand, if the BJP gets the Chief Ministership for the next two-and-a-half years. There is no way the party will agree to allow the JMM, which has been holding the post for the past five months, to complete the tenure.
Though consultations to choose a BJP Chief Minister were completed in Ranchi on Tuesday by the central observers, a meeting of the Parliamentary Board would be called only after a decision was taken on the “rotation” offer and after securing a letter of support from the JMM for a BJP Chief Minister.
Munda has edge?
Different party leaders are backing different names, though the former Chief Minister, Arjun Munda, seems to enjoy an edge. For the moment, the focus has shifted to the issue of “rotation.”
Many within the BJP are of the view that there is logic in the JMM's insistence on rotation, as both the BJP and the JMM have 18 MLAs each.
Party leaders also point out that the BJP has suffered at the hands of Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh and H.D. Kumaraswamy in Karnataka, when these leaders refused to resign at the end of their rotational tenure to make way for a BJP Chief Minister. It does not want to make the same mistake a third time.
But the other side is not sitting pretty. Reports from Ranchi indicate Babulal Marandi's Jharkhand Vikas Morcha has been in touch with the Congress and has asked it to give the State a stable government.
