Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren wins trust vote amid Opposition walkout

New Delhi, September 5

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led ruling coalition on Monday won the confidence vote in a one-day special session of the state Assembly with 48 MLAs voting for the motion in a House of 81.

Opposition BJP legislators sloganeered through most part of Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s speech and walked out ahead of the headcount. The half-way mark in the Jharkhand Assembly is 41. Of the 48 MLAs with Soren, 29 were of the JMM, 15 of the Congress, one each of the RJD, CPI-ML and NCP and one Independent. “The need for the confidence vote was felt because the BJP has been attempting to destabilise duly elected governments in states not ruled by it,” said Soren, justifying the trust vote motion. The Chief Minister referred to the state of uncertainty that, he said, had gripped Jharkhand ever since reports emerged that the Election Commission (EC) had advised Governor Ramesh Bais to disqualify him as an MLA in an office-of-profit matter. The BJP had petitioned the EC, which wrote to the Governor, triggering speculation on Soren’s continuation in the Assembly. “Uncertainty has been prevailing in the state since August 25 after media reports that the EC has recommended to the Governor that Soren be disqualified as an MLA. The Governor is silent. A UPA delegation met him urging him to clear the air. He even assured us of clarity in a few days, but went to Delhi through the backdoor,” said Soren.

The Jharkhand government sent 30 MLAs to Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh to ward off any poaching challenge from the BJP. The MLAs returned yesterday and voted in the confidence motion debate today. Before taking the final call, Bais is learnt to have sought a legal opinion.