A day after Jharkhand governor Ramesh Bais returned the domicile bill- which defines a resident of the state based on 1932 land records - to the state government, asking it to “ seriously review” its legality, Chief Minister Hemant Soren preferred to remain silent on this issue.

Though Soren reached Saraikela under the banner of his Khatiyan- Johar yatra and addressed a public meeting there on January 30, he talked about a number of issues including the response of the people toward his yatra, and opposition BJP. But he did not utter a word about Governor Ramesh Bais decision to return the domicile bill on January 29.

Notably, the Soren government had got the domicile bill passed by the Assembly on November 11. To do so, his government had convened one- day special session of the Assembly.

Now, Soren's government has to depend on the advice of lawyers to decide the course of action on his controversial domicile policy. “ Our lawyers are studying the Governor’s text returning the Assembly passed bill”, said a senior government official aware of the matter.

However, in public meeting JMM MLAs Champai Soren and Health Minister Banna Gupta, Satya Nand Bhogta, who shared the dias with CM Soren at Kashi Sahu college ground in Saraikela on Monday, expressed their view that the state government should again get the domicile bill passed by the Assembly and send it to Governor Ramesh Bais