JMM Supremo Shibu Soren has staked his claim to form the next government in Jharkhand. Mr. Soren alongwith his senior party leaders and MLAs met governor Mr. K. Shankar Narayanan in the Raj Bhawan today at Ranchi. Senior BJP leaders like Yashwant Sinha, BJP's national vice president Karnua Shukla ,General Secretary Anant Kumar, Former Chief Minister Arjun Munda and state president of the party Raghubar Das were also present during meeting with the governor. Mr. Soren submitted a list of 42 MLAs which include 18 of JMM, 18 from BJP, 05 of 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. 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 yesterday, Arun Jaitley and BJP were crying hoarse about Shibu Soren's criminal past. But today 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, Tewari wondered how BJP could take a tough line on tackling Maoist
News On AIR | December 26, 2009 7:20 PM
Shibu Soren stakes claim to form govt in Jharkhand