Cong, BJP stake claim to form Jharkhand govt

March 01, 2005

In Jharkhand, both the Congress and the BJP met the Governor on Monday to stake claim to form the new government in the state, but the Governor has asked them for lists of supporting MLAs within 48 hours.

The BJP has elected Arjun Munda as the leader of the legislative party, beating his closest rival Babulal Marandi.

The BJP-JD(U) alliance needs the support of five more MLAs to reach the majority figure of 41. It has now got the support of two from the Jharkhand Students Union, but is still short of three.

For the Congress-led alliance, things are tougher. Along with the JMM and RJD, they have 33 MLAs and need eight more.

Stephen Marandi, who left the JMM holds the key because six independents are backing him. But it is likely to get the support of two from forward bloc and one CPI-ML MLA.