The JMM leadership remained worried about whether it could get the formal, effective support of two party MLAs who have been absconding for months to evade arrest and police interrogation in criminal cases.
These two JMM legislators are Sita Soren, the daughter-in-law of Mr Shibu Soren, and former minister Nalin Soren. JMM leaders wondered if the two MLAs would come out of hiding to help the new dispensation win a trust vote in the Assembly.
With the JMM, Congress and RJD having 18, 13 and five MLAs each, respectively, in Jharkhand’s 81-member Assembly, six more MLAs are needed before the JMM can stake claim to form a government before President’s Rule expires in Jharkhand on July 18. “With some Independent MLAs having already extended full support to us, we have the support of more than 41 MLAs,” said Mr Hemant Soren. JMM sources said four Independent MLAs — Harinarayan Rai, Bandhu Tirkey, Chamra Linda and Bidesh Singh — had already submitted letters of support to Mr Shibu Soren.
The Opposition BJP and the Babulal Marandi-led Jharkhand Vikas Mocha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) on Saturday described the heightened efforts by the JMM and the Congress to prop up a new government, which will be the ninth government in Jharkhand’s 13 years of existence, as a “blatant show of money power”.