Koda moment

Next month, the Madhu Koda Government in Jharkhand -now reduced to a minority - would have completed two years in...

Next month, the Madhu Koda Government in Jharkhand 8212; now reduced to a minority 8212; would have completed two years in office. The specific provocation is the withdrawal of support on August 17 by Shibu Soren8217;s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. After supporting the UPA in the July trust vote, he is intent on becoming chief minister of the state. But in many ways, the latest bout of instability in Jharkhand could have been foretold.

The 2005 Assembly polls delivered a fractured verdict. No party touched the magic number of 42 seats in the 82-member house. JMM president Shibu Soren, backed by the Congress and the RJD, was sworn in as chief minister, with Governor Syed Sibtey Razi administering him the oath of office. But Soren had to resign within nine days as Independent legislators Madhu Koda, Enos Ekka, Harinarain Rai and Kamlesh Singh were won over by the NDA camp led by Arjun Munda.

The honeymoon between Munda and the Independents did not last beyond a year. After the 30-km Nawamundi-Hatgamaria highway collapsed in early 2006, Koda, then a minister in the NDA government and the Assembly representative from Jagannathpur constituency where the highway fell, locked horns with Munda. In September, Koda turned dissident again and along with three Independent legislators withdrew support to the Munda government. This time, it led to his being sworn in as chief minister of his state 8212; and his name entering the Limca Book of World Records as the country8217;s first Independent legislator who continued to be CM for 23 months. And it wasn8217;t just Koda8217;s feat. He couldn8217;t have done it without the support of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, JMM chief Shibu Soren and RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav, among others.

Soren, who is desperate to succeed Koda as CM today, says: 8220;That was the time I had the compulsion to lend my party8217;s support to him. After all, the communal forces read NDA had to be kept out.8221;

The series of events that unfolded in 2006 favoured Koda:

September 3: In New Delhi, Koda together with three other Independents 8212; Ekka, Rai and Singh 8212; held a meeting with Congress8217;s Ahmed Patel and RJD8217;s Lalu Prasad Yadav

September 5: The four Independents came to Ranchi by a chartered flight and handed over their resignations to Governor Razi reducing the Munda-led NDA government to a minority. Razi asked Munda to prove his majority on the floor of the house within 10 days on September 14. Subsequently, they returned to New Delhi. MLAs of the JMM, Congress and RJD also headed to New Delhi

September 13: Thirty-seven of 42 UPA MLAs returned from New Delhi by a chartered flight

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September 14: Munda faced the assembly. But he resigned before undergoing the floor test. Armed with a list of 41 MLAs, Koda met Governor Razi and staked claim to form the government

September 18: Razi administered the oath of office to Koda as the state8217;s third chief minister since 2005. Later, he won the trust vote in the assembly.