Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) officially maintained a studied silence here over the political developments in Jharkhand where the assembly poll results have thrown up a fractured verdict, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) claimed on Friday in Ranchi that it would form the government under the leadership of its president Shibu Soren with the support of the BJP and the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU).
“The BJP and the AJSU have agreed to support the JMM,” party vice-president Hemlal Murmu was quoted as having said in agency reports from Ranchi.
The BJP won 18 seats and has a pre-poll alliance with the Janata Dal (United) which won two seats. The JMM has also bagged 18 seats and the AJSU sprung a surprise victory of five assembly seats, taking the total up to 43 in the 81-member House which is two more than the simple majority mark. The alliance of the Congress and the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha won 25 seats.
BJP holds meeting
Sources in the BJP said that party president Nitin Gadkari and senior party leader and former president Rajnath Singh held a meeting to discuss the political developments in Jharkhand, indicating that the party was not averse to exploring all possibilities which could lead to formation of a stable government in the State.
JMM supremo Shibu Soren has already made it clear that he will not settle for anything less than the Chief Minister’s post. His party has also given indications that it is not averse to taking help from the BJP to form a government in Jharkhand.
