Uncertainty stirs J'Khand assembly

February 28, 2005

No single party or coalition has managed majority in the Jharkhand assembly, making each seat in the new assembly critical and throwing up possibility of uncertain political times for the young state.

Ruling BJP has said it would stake claim to form the next government. BJP and coalition is just four seats short of a single majority in the new state assembly.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress coalition seemed to have suffered seriously from dissidence that gripped JMM just before the polls.

While the ruling BJP and its allies, despite anti-incumbency being widely reported and performing badly in the last Lok Sabha elections, managed to hold on and won 37 seats.

In the closely fought elections, the ruling BJP took on the JMM-Congress coalition led by Shibu Soren and held its ground.

Chief Minister Arjun Munda won from Kharsawa, though a couple of his ministers lost. Even as BJP failed to secure a single majority, Munda said the first priority of BJP was to stake claim to form the next government.

The Congress-JMM coalition suffered serious set back due to the internal bickering that saw senior JMM leader Stephen Marandi revolting and quitting the party few days before polls. Shibu Soren's sons Hemant and Durga both lost elections.

It was all the more embarrassing for Shibu Soren since it was rebel Stephen Marandi who defeated Hemant. Shibu Soren, who is a member of Dr Manmohan Singh cabinet, is not contesting.

But the critical players in the state would be the smaller players. Among them most important would be Lalu Prasad's RJD which has won 8 seats.

Four independents, one each from Forward Bloc and CPI (ML) have also won the elections.

If JMM-Congress coalition decides to stake claim, then RJD would emerge as a critical player in Jharkhand. But Lalu would extend support only after he extracts a hard bargain from the Congress in Bihar.