Jharkhand crisis: MLAs enjoy day of sightseeing, Soren safe till Monday

The coalition MLAs were brought back to the CM's residence after a day of sightseeing which saw them taking a boat ride near the Latratu dam in Khunti where the bunch had reached earlier in the day.

Ranchi: Amid the deepening political crisis in Jharkhand due to the uncertainty over Chief Minister Hemant Soren's fate as an MLA, coalition MLAs were brought back to the CM's residence after a day of sightseeing which saw them taking a boat ride near the Latratu dam in Khunti where the bunch had reached earlier in the day.

There is an imminent political crisis in the state over reports that the Election Commission of India had recommended the CM’s disqualification as a legislator in a mining lease issue. The development comes in its wake with the MLAs being moved around after a lot of brainstorming at the chief minister's residence to chalk out a strategy to deal with the emerging scenario.

According to sources, a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party was held on Saturday evening to chalk out a strategy for further action to save the coalition government in Jharkhand. The meeting was presided over by Congress general secretary in-charge Avinash Pande. Earlier in the day, Raj Bhavan sources said that Governor Ramesh Bais was likely to send the order of disqualification of Soren as an MLA to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

However, later it was known that the same is not going to happen before Monday. The coalition legislators, it was said earlier in the day, would be camped either in Chhattisgarh or West Bengal, both run by non-BJP governments even as the MLAs were asked to report with their luggage. The source said three locations in Chhattisgarh, including Barmuda and Raipur, and some places in West Bengal have been identified.

In the rapidly changing political scenario, 'resort politics' is the need of the hour to keep the numbers of the ruling alliance intact, party sources asserted. Insiders in the Congress, a crucial ally in the JMM-led ruling coalition, had said that ring-fencing of MLAs by parking them in a resort in a "friendly state" such as West Bengal, Bihar or Chhattisgarh is being considered as an option to prevent legislator poaching by the BJP. However, they said a decision on the future course of action can be taken once the governor communicates to them the ECI's opinion on the possible disqualification of Soren as an MLA.

The ECI sent its opinion to Bais on August 25 on a plea seeking that Soren be disqualified as an MLA for violating electoral norms by extending a mining lease to himself. Rural Development and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Alamgir Alam had on Friday said the MLAs of the ruling alliance cannot be poached and will stay in Ranchi.

Another minister, Mithilesh Thakur, had claimed that the ruling coalition has the magic number of "50 MLAs, which can go up to 56" while asserting that they had learnt resort politics' from the saffron party. Meanwhile, Raj Bhavan sources said the governor may take a call by evening on the ECI views on "disqualification" of the chief minister as an MLA and send the disqualification order to the commission.

The BJP, the petitioner in the case, has sought Soren's disqualification for violating Section 9 (A) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which deals with disqualification for government contracts. The clause states that "a person shall be disqualified if, and for so long as, there subsists a contract entered into by him in the course of his trade or business with the appropriate government for the supply of goods to, or for the execution of any works undertaken by, that government".

The issue was referred to the governor and by him to the EC, as Article 192 of the Constitution states that on rulings regarding an MLA's disqualification, the question shall be referred to the governor who in turn "shall obtain the opinion of the Election Commission and shall act according to such opinion". The ruling coalition has 49 MLAs in the 81-member Assembly.

The JMM, the largest party, has 30 MLAs, the Congress 18 legislators, and the RJD one. The main opposition BJP has 26 MLAs in the House. The coalition partners had on Thursday claimed that there was no threat to the government. The JMM had exuded confidence that Soren will remain the chief minister for full term till 2024. (Agency inputs)