A day after Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren flew to New Delhi to meet Home Minister Amit Shah and returned to Ranchi by a charted flight on Monday, speculation is rife that change is going to take place in the politics of governance in Jharkhand.
The meeting between Soren, who is a leader of the ruling JMM in the state and Shah, who is a commanding leader of the ruling BJP in the country, has taken place at a time when the former is facing serious charges of corruption.
The Jharkhand High Court has been responding to two PILs seeking CBI inquiry into alleged irregularities in the grant of a stone mining lease to Soren and the financial transactions of shell companies said to be owned by Soren’s family members and close associates.
Even the Election Commission of India has issued notice to Soren seeking his response to the charge that he had violated “ office of profit” rules. The EC has held its court on Tuesday.
Alongside, the Presidential poll is slated to be held on July 18. The BJP and its allies have fielded tribal woman Draupadi Murmu while the allies of JMM put up ex-BJP leader Yashwant Sinha as their candidates.
JMM is basically a tribal-dominated political party. If their party supports its allies’ including Congress and the TMC, candidate Sinha, its most tribal MLAs and their supporters who were known to be in favour of Draupadi Murmu and desire to see her become the first tribal woman President, can get disheartened.
Against this backdrop, the JMM led by the CM Hemant Soren and his father and party’s MP Shibu Soren were tight-lipped about their plan. Insiders say, they will support Draupadi Murmu. And Soren can change gear to get tied up with the BJP. However, whether BJP will join hands with the JMM and form the government right now, remains a subject of speculation.
The speculation was also powered by the claim made today by senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari who said in Kolkata that “ as Maharashtra remains embroiled in political crisis, with several rebel MLAs of ruling Shiv Sena camping in Assam, in what seems to be a bid to topple the MVA coalition government in the state.
Mr Adhikari also said that the non-BJP states of Jharkhand and Rajasthan were next in line after Maharashtra, and Bengal's turn would come after that.
His remarks drew sharp reactions from the TMC, which said that the saffron camp, frustrated over its losses in assembly polls, was making “desperate bids” to capture power in these states.