JMM Supremo Shibu Soren has staked his claim to form a new government in Jharkhand. Mr. Soren along with his senior party leaders and MLAs met Governor K. Shankar Narayanan at Raj Bhawan in Ranchi on Saturday. Senior BJP leaders Yashwant Sinha, BJP's National Vice President Karuna Shukla, General Secretary Anant Kumar, Former Chief Minister Arjun Munda and State Party President Raghubar Das were also present during meeting with the Governor. Mr. Soren submitted a list of 42 MLAs which include 18 from JMM, 18 from BJP, 5 from All Jharkhand Students Union led by Sudesh Mahto and one independent – Bandhu Tirkey, a former education minister in Madhu Koda government. The Governor has said that he would study the situation and convey his decision to Mr. Soren. <br/><br/>BJP ally Janata Dal(United), which has two MLAs, met the Governor and handed over a letter of support backing Shibu Soren in the formation of a new government. This was disclosed by the JD(U)'s state unit President Jaleshwar Mahato in Ranchi on Saturday. He said, after JDU's support, the total number of MLAs backing Mr Soren has gone up to 44.<br/><br/>Shibu Soren, 65, who was twice Chief Minister of the tribal state told news persons later that they have the required majority to form the new government. Congress has dubbed the BJP's support to Shibu soren as double standard saying it is the high point of unprincipled and unethical politics. Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said, till Friday, Arun Jaitley and BJP were crying hoarse about Shibu Soren's criminal past. But now they have no hesitation about aligning with a man who is being tried in three murder cases. Accusing JMM of winning their assembly seats with the support of Maoists, Mr Tewari wondered how BJP could take a tough line on tackling Maoist violence.<br/><br/>