Champai Soren government will face a crucial trust vote in the state assembly at 11 am today.
Jharkhand 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.
Bullet points are mentioned below
- Champai Soren formed a government amid allegations of deliberate delay by the governor. He claimed the support of 43 MLAs in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly. The BJP-led NDA has 29 MLAs in the Assembly, including 26 from the BJP and three from the AJSU. 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 Champai Soren, will not be able to 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 permitted him on Saturday.
- After reaching Ranchi, the JMM-led alliance MLAs expressed confidence in winning the trust vote, claiming that they have the support of 48 to 50 MLAs. JMM MLA Mithilesh Thakur claimed that some BJP MLAs are also in support of ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in the state.
- Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo said that whatever the result of the floor test, “Jharkhand has lost”. “The manner in which Jharkhand has been humiliated in front of the national and international community is absolutely shocking. A chief minister was on the run for 40 hours without any contact with top officials of the state. The people of the state were left to their own mercy,” he said.
- BJP Chief Whip, Biranchi Narain said that the JMM-led alliance is losing the trust vote. “Hyderabad MLAs were kept under strict surveillance, indicating that they were not confident of winning,” he said.
- The JMM-led alliance MLAs, who have been staying at a Hyderabad resort for the past three days, were flown in two flights amid alliance fears that the BJP might try to “hunt” them in the run-up to the trust vote.
- On Sunday, one of the JMM MLAs, Lobin Hembram, criticized the move to take the MLAs to a luxury resort in Hyderabad. But the JMM leadership said that Hembram would vote for the coalition government.