Jharkhand BJP,it seems,is suffering from amnesia.The party led coalition government had tried to put Jharkhand on track to development.But after it fell and the President’s Rule was imposed on January 18,it can not claim credit for highlighting any failure of the Congress monitored Central rule.

It is not that the party has nothing to fight for.In fact,it has ready made issues in the recovery of more than Rs 21 cash from the room of a Mayoral candidate supported by the Congress MP Subodh Kant Sahay,appointment of a Congress leader Mani Shankar as chairman of the State Pollution Control Board in violation of the Supreme Court’s guidelines,acute water scarcity and power cuts.

The party has yet to think in terms of chalking out strategy to take political milege out of the situation.

To say nothing about organizing rallies and demonstrations,the party leaders have not cared so far to even issue formal statement attacking the government.

Perhaps,atleast three factions led by former chief minister Arjun Munda-state unit president Ravindra Rai ,former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha and Speaker CP Singh,are watching the mood of each other than plunging headlong into anti-Central rule agitation.

Behind the scenes move to install another coalition government comprising Congress-RJD-JMM and tainted Independents such as Enos Ekka and Harinarain Rai who were out of jail on bail in corruption cases were on.One perceptible reason is that the party’s state-level set up is yet not complete.The executive committee of the BJP’s state unit is yet to be set up.

Party workers at the grass roots level are of the view that the balancing act of the party’s central leadership in nominating Rai as state unit president is proving to be detrimental as supporters of Sinha and Singh were not ready to accept him as their leader.Rai had quit the party and joined ex BJP leader and former CM Babulal Marandi only to quit him and re join the party.

Party circles feel that party president Raj Nath Singh who had done the right thing by giving credence to Munda who was backing Rai,instead of leaving three centres of power within the BJP in Jharkhand,should have brought them together and evolved a consensus enjoying the confidence of the three groups.