Govindacharya exit might end NDA-BJP rift on Jharkhand

In the changed circumstances now, a senior leader said, the Jharkhand unit of the BJP is not likely to toe the line of Govindacharya, who had also antagonised the NDA partners on the issue of chief ministership. While the Samata Party and JD(U) were in favour of honouring the commitment given to JMM chief Shibu Soren during the formation of the week-old NDA government, most of the senior BJP leaders, at the instigation of Govindacharya, had denied having given any such commitment. They had stuck to their stand that the BJP should form the government.

Sources maintain that most of the BJP leaders from Jharkhand state are in favour of working in close union with the NDA partners and don’t want to create any problem. But, on Govindacharya’s instructions, BJP leaders had asserted that the party would form a government on its own.

Even senior NDA leaders like Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav had stated that the alliance should at least try to honour the commitment made to Soren of the JMM. NDA leaders had reportedly pledged to make him the chief minister of Jharkhand for his support to Nitish Kumar at the time of the formation of the week-old NDA government in Bihar. However, Govindacharya and his supporters had outrightly refused to accept this fact, saying no such commitment was given to Soren at any stage. This had simply soured relations with the JMM and Soren had been forced to open negotiations with RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav.

Well-placed sources say a fresh move has been initiated to install an all-party government in Jharkhand with Soren as the CM. Barring the RJD, the government might have the representatives of the Left parties too. The state CPI executive committee has even endorsed this stand, with the Naxalite outfit CPI(ML) not lagging behind.

Since the Left certainly would not like to share power with the BJP, efforts are being made by some senior NDA leaders to persuade the latter to evolve some sort of a strategy. One such strategy could be extension of support by the BJP from outside. But the BJP leaders may not be ready for this. At the very least, they are insisting, Munda should be made the deputy chief minister.

Incidentally, Govindacharya’s exit would also augur well for the old-time BJP leaders who had been sidelined by him. Most of them are from the RSS and have been devoted party workers who, however, did not want to accept Govindacharya as their leader. These leaders might now be rehabilitated, changing the current equation in the party.