Jharkhand CM may be decided today

NEW DELHI, NOV 4: The controversy over who should be sworn in as the first chief minister of Jharkhand on November 15 is likely to be reso...

NEW DELHI, NOV 4: The controversy over who should be sworn in as the first chief minister of Jharkhand on November 15 is likely to be resolved tomorrow. Whether the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (Soren) continues with the NDA would also be decided accordingly.

JMM supremo Shibu Soren met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for over half an hour tonight. In real terms, the meeting, that was held at the latter’s invitation, did not yield much as the Jharkhand party failed to elicit any response to its demand regarding the chief minister’s seat.

“Vajpayeeji has assured us that a final decision on the matter would be conveyed to me through NDA convenor George Fernandes,” Soren told The Indian Express after the meeting.

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In his meeting, Soren took exception to the BJP’s unilateral announcement that it would not give up its claim on the post of chief minister, come what may. He also reminded the Prime Minister about Fernandes’s reported promise while seeking the JMM’s support for Nitish Kumar as the chief minister of Bihar in March this year.

While Soren was optimistic about the PM’s support, the other NDA partners which have a stake in the region do not share his enthusiasm. The BJP has categorically ruled out the possibility of handing over the chief minister’s seat to the JMM.

It now transpires that the party has also rejected the idea of a JMM candidate being made the deputy chief minister — an option that was being mooted as a way out of the deadlock.