Continuing its attempts at government formation,the JMM central committee has now decided to project MLA Sushila Hansda in case the UPA rejects the names of Nalin Soren and Salkhan Soren as chief minister of Jharkhand,now under President's Rule. Hansda's name would be proposed when JMM supremo Shibu Soren meets UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi shortly,the JMM central committee decided last night,party sources said. "My name has been added to the list as I am the only woman MLA in JMM and a four-time MLA," Hansda told newsmen. The Congress and the RJD have rejected JMM's first choice Champai Soren,which was announced soon after Soren lost a bypoll and his subsequent resignation last month. While the JMM has given the names of four of its MLAs as choice of chief minister,the UPA allies have gone on record saying that any decision should be taken unanimously at a UPA meeting and not at the party level. The projection of yet another name as its chief ministerial choice was sharply criticised by opposition parties,which demanded dissolution of the house. "Instead of seeking a fresh mandate after Shibu Soren's defeat in the Tamar bypoll,the party is proposing chief ministerial candidates one after another," CPI-M's central committee member,J S Mazumdar said. Janata Dal (United) spokesman,Pramod Kumar Mishra,said it opposed formation of a government in the current house. BJP's state unit president,Raghuvar Das,said the party would gherao Raj Bhavan on February 12 to demand dissolution of the house. Former chief minister Babulal Marandi said his Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Democratic) will demonstrate before Raj Bhavan on February 18 to demand a fresh mandate. The CPI,which had earlier given conditional support to the then Madhu Koda government and continued it after Soren took over in August last year,has since distanced itself from any political experiment in the current house.
