Legislators from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led ruling alliance returned to Ranchi from Hyderabad on Sunday for new Chief Minister Champai Soren’s crucial floor test in the Jharkhand Assembly, slated to be held on Monday.
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Former CM Hemant Soren has been cleared to participate in the trust vote, and at least one rebel JMM MLA has also agreed to support the government, which will require 41 votes in the 80-strong Assembly to pass the floor test.
Sequestered MLAs return
The Congress legislative party leader Alamgir Alam, one of two Cabinet Ministers in the new government, was present to welcome the 39 returning MLAs when their chartered plane landed in Ranchi at 9 p.m. “All our MLAs are intact and no one is in touch with the Bharatiya Janata Party. We are going to win the floor test. The BJP leaders were spreading rumours that some of our MLAs are in touch with them. It’s nothing as such,” Mr. Alam said at Ranchi airport.
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From the airport, the MLAs were rushed straight to the Ranchi Circuit House where they will stay overnight before participating in the vote of confidence in the Assembly. Immediately after the swearing-in ceremony on Friday, 39 MLAs had been flown to Telangana and sequestered at a resort to prevent them from being approached by the BJP.
41 votes needed
Mr. Hemant Soren, currently in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an alleged land scam case, will also partcipate in the trust vote, after he was permitted to do so by a special court.
With one JMM MLA having resigned recently, the Assembly’s current strength stands at 80, meaning that the ruling alliance needs the support of 41 MLAs. Mr. Champai Soren’s letter of support submitted to Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan had included 43 signatures.
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Conditional support from rebel
On the eve of the floor test, Lobin Hembrom, a veteran JMM leader and rebel MLA from the Borio Assembly seat, announced that he would back the new government, if it met his demands. These include: the imposition of prohibition in the State; protection of forests; water conservation; and a special court to expedite trials in cases filed against tribals and local residents.
JMM sources said that Mr. Hembrom’s announcement came after a 20-minute meeting with the party’s founder and former CM Shibu Soren at his official residence. “I have decided to support the government during the trust vote; however, the government must look at my demands which are for the betterment of Jharkhand,” Mr. Hembrom told journalists.
Numbers game
However, Chamra Linda, another rebel JMM MLA who represents the Bishunpur Assembly seat would not discuss his intentions ahead of the vote. “Wait for the floor test, I will not say anything on it,“ Mr. Linda said.
JMM MLA Ramdas Soren, who represents the Ghatshila Assembly seat, is unwell and currently hospitalised. It has not yet been confirmed whether he will be present during the trust vote.
The ruling alliance has 48 MLAs, including 29 from the JMM, 17 from the Congress, and one each from the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). The main Opposition coalition in the State has 30 MLAs, including 26 from the BJP, three from the All Jharkhand Students’ Union, and one from Ajit Pawar’s faction of the Nationalist Congress Party.