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Journalism of Courage
Inside his chamber at the state secretariat, Chief Minister Arjun Munda insists all is fine. ‘‘There is no problem,’’ he says, barely a week after he expanded his Cabinet to accommodate five ministers, leaving the JD(U) fuming over the exclusion of former minister Jaleshwar Mahto.
To add to Munda’s woes of a wafer-thin majority (42 of the 81-member House), Governor Syed Sibtey Razi has turned down the Cabinet’s recommendation of J.P. Gladstone for nomination as MLA from the Anglo-Indian community.
Had Razi agreed, the number of MLAs supporting the Munda government would have gone up to 43. However, Razi stood firm, saying the state Cabinet presided by his successor Soren last month had also forwarded the name of S.J.Rozario for the same post. Rozario had moved the Jharkhand HC with a plea to quash the recommendation by Munda’s Cabinet. Till the court passes its verdict on his petition, the Governor would prefer not to take a decision.
The setback came even as the CM is under fire from JD(U)’s Welfare Minister Ramesh Singh Munda and Mahto. Both command support of their party’s two other MLAs. The quartet had slammed Munda for siding with the JD(U)’s state unit president and speaker Inder Singh Namdhari by inducting Radha Krishna Kishore.
After the four met Nitish Kumar in Patna last week, JD(U) leader Digvijay Singh met party MLAs yesterday. The meeting was marked by exchange of blows between supporters of Mahto and Kishore-Namdhari factions. The leaders, however, came together on two points — appoint Ramesh Munda as legislature party leader and approach the CM to take care of its three MLAs’ ‘‘concerns’’.
With the six crucial Independents, including Sudesh Mahato, Enos Ekka and Hari Narain Rai, clinching plum portfolios, Munda was left with only energy and personnel. BJP members who were on 15-odd PSU boards, enjoying Cabinet status, were asked to make way for those in the present dispensation. Also, a plan was afoot to create a dozen posts, each with the rank of minister. Munda’s explanation: ‘‘To run the coalition in the post-downsized era, we have to have a mechanism.’’
