chief minister Champai Soren will prove his majority in the assembly through a floor test at 11 am today. The politician assumed the top post after his boss Hemant Soren resigned before being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate last week. The ruling JMM-led alliance, which had sequestered its MLAs in a resort in Hyderabad to prevent poaching, brought back its leaders to Ranchi on Sunday evening. The BJP claimed the coalition's move showed a lack of confidence.
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Champi Soren formed a government amid allegations of deliberate delay by the governor. He has claimed the support of 43 MLAs in the 81-strong Jharkhand assembly. The BJP-led NDA has 29 MLAs in the assembly, including BJP's 26 MLAs and AJSU's three.
After Hemant Soren was arrested on January 31 by the ED in an alleged land scam case, his close aide Champai Soren went to the governor claiming the support of 43 MLAs. However, some MLAs did not sign the support letter but they are still with the coalition.
According to reports, some of the JMM MLAs, who did not support Champi Soren, may not participate in the floor test.
Jharkhand's former chief minister Hemant Soren will walk out of jail on Monday to attend the voting process during the floor test after a special court in Ranchi on Saturday permitted him.
Upon arrival in Ranchi, JMM-led alliance MLAs exuded confidence to win the trust vote, claiming that they had the support of 48 to 50 legislators. JMM lawmaker Mithilesh Thakur claimed that some of the BJP MLAs are also in support of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in the state.
Meanwhile, the chief whip of the BJP, Biranchi Narain said that the JMM-led coalition was set to lose the vote of confidence. “The MLAs in Hyderabad were kept under strict surveillance, which indicates that they were not confident of winning," he said.
The JMM-led alliance MLAs, who were at a resort in Hyderabad for the past three days, were flown in two flights amid the coalition's fear that the BJP might attempt to "poach" them in the run-up to the trust vote.
One of the JMM MLAs Lobin Hembrom on Sunday criticised the move to take the MLAs at a lavish resort in Hyderabad. However, the JMM leadership has said that Hembrom will be voting in favour of the coalition government.
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