BJP grabs JMM MLA, fields him from Jamshedpur

Although he never stated reasons for not contesting, party leaders said Munda is driven by the desire to bring down the Hemant Soren government and — after the assembly elections in 2015 — try another shot at the CM’s post.

Soren had come to power by pulling the plug on a BJP-JMM alliance led by Munda.

“Yes, Mahto has come over to the BJP. I am not interested in contesting; I have informed the party about it,” Munda told The Indian Express. With Mahto joining the BJP, he said, “The Hemant Soren government has lost the required number (majority).”

Babulal Marandi, whose JVM(P) has 11 MLAs, met the Governor and submitted a memorandum claiming that the government does not have the numbers anymore.

Till now, three MLAs, including one from the Congress, have quit to join the TMC and two JMM MLAs have gone to the BJP. On July 18 last year, the government had passed its floor test with the support of 43 MLAs. While 37 voting against it, one was absent.

However, it is not a straight transfer of seats to the Opposition yet, as the anti-defection law is likely to apply in the case of Chandra Shekhar “Dadai” Dubey, who moved from the Congress to the TMC, and Hemlal Murmu and Mahto who quit the JMM. “None of these three legislators have informed me. I am considering suo motu action against them,” said Speaker Shashank Shekhar Bhokta. Two other MLAs who quit, Bandhu Tirkey and Chamra Linda, however, have escaped the anti-defection law by merging their single-legislator parties with the TMC.

Although there was initial opposition in a section of the state BJP against Mahto’s induction, they fell in line by Wednesday evening.

Choosing a candidate for the Jamshedpur seat itself has been a difficult task for most parties. The JMM declared its candidate only on Wednesday — Niroop Mohanty, a former Tata Steel vice president. The AJSU and TMC are yet to declare candidates.

One reason for the apprehensiveness of the BJP and JMM has been the good performance of JVM(P)’s Ajoy Kumar, the sitting MP who has been re-nominated by his party. “We are hoping that Mahto benefits from the Modi wave,” said a BJP leader.

Ajoy Kumar said there was a plan behind Munda bringing in Mahto to Jamshedpur. “He is not looking for a win from Jamshedpur; he merely wants to bring someone over from the JMM and topple the government,” he said.