Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 30: Worried over the prolonged silence on the issue of chief minister Hemant Soren’s likely disqualification from the state Assembly, the members of the ruling coalition of Jharkhand on Tuesday were moved out of Ranchi to the neighbouring Congress-ruled state of Chhattisgarh to “avoid possible poaching” of its members by the BJP.
Reports received from Ranchi said about 40 MLAs of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Congress were taken from the chief minister’s residence in two buses to the Ranchi airport where a chartered flight booked for Raipur was waiting for them. Soren himself was present at the airport to see the MLAs off.
The arrangements for shifting the members to the Congress-ruled state was taken after alleged poaching attempts by the BJP as the week-long political crisis in the eastern state continues to remain in log limelight, the JMM sources said. Jharkhand is undergoing a political crisis already with the opposition BJP seeking Soren’s disqualification from the Assembly in an office of profit case. The party called for fresh elections and demanded that the Chief Minister resign “on moral grounds.”
Sources said the JMM believed that the BJP may take advantage of the crisis and make an attempt to poach MLAs of the ruling coalition to overturn the elected government. Sources said the MLAs will be lodged at the Mayfair resort in Raipur. The rounding-up exercise started on Saturday, when Soren and 43 MLAs were seen moving bag and baggage to Khunti, around 30 km from Ranchi.
The Election Commission has held hearings on the issue and submitted its opinion to the Governor. The ruling coalition, however, was worried over prolonged silence from the Raj-Bhavan on ECI’s recommendations. The governor Ramesh Bais is believed to have received the ECI’s report in a sealed cover on Thursday but so far he has kept the content of the report close to his chest.
As such the ruling coalition with 49 members (50 with the speaker) in the 81-member House enjoyed a comfortable majority. This included the JMM 30, the Congress 18 and Tejashwi Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) one, while the main opposition BJP has only 26 MLAs.
Soren, whose future hangs in balance, later told reporters that this was not a surprising move. “It happens in politics. We are ready to face any situation.” He further said no unforeseen incident is going to take place. The current crisis erupted after the BJP filed a petition seeking Soren’s disqualification from the Assembly in an office of profit case, following which the Election Commission sent its decision to governor Ramesh Bais on August 25.
The EC’s decision on the matter is yet to be announced. However, according to reports, there is a buzz that the poll panel has recommended the chief minister’s disqualification as an MLA. The Raj Bhavan has not announced anything on this matter as yet.
The JMM believes that the BJP may make a serious attempt to poach MLAs from it and from the Congress in a bid to topple the government in a manner “similar to Maharashtra” and there is a need to ringfence the legislators in a “safe haven.”
Sources said a cabinet meeting might be held on September 1 and the ministers may come back to Jharkhand to attend it.
Another MLA said CM Hemant Soren wants to keep the BJP on its toes. The MLA added: “There have been certain murmurs over poaching again and CM Soren does not want to take any chance until the ECI letter is public. Of lately there has been some panic again.”
The ruling UPA allies, which include the JMM, Congress and RJD, have accused the BJP of misusing constitutional bodies and conspiring to topple the Jharkhand government.
On its part, the BJP has said that “law will take its own course.”