Governors report in,Jharkhand looks headed for Presidents rule

He Syed Sibtey Razi has given details of the situation prevalent in the state, S S Akhtar,press advisor to the Governor,told The Indian Express.

Presidents rule looks likely,given the deep divide in the UPA on who should succeed Soren. Before he quit,Soren named JMM MLA Champai Soren as his successor,even got him elected as leader of the legislature party. But this was unacceptable to alliance partners. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was said to be in favour of returning Independent Madhu Koda as chief minister but Soren was opposed,leading to a deadlock in the state.

This prompted the Opposition BJP to demand a round of Presidents rule followed by fresh Assembly elections. Arjun Munda of the BJP,a former chief minister,even staged a dharna outside the Raj Bhawan. For the past five days,this state has witnessed an unprecedented political crisis. No ally of the UPA is ready to form the government. In such a situation,we want Presidents rule and fresh Assembly elections, Munda said.

State Congress president Pradeep Balmuchu and Stephen Marandi,who quit as deputy chief minister,returned to Ranchi from New Delhi where they had gone to discuss the possibility of evolving a consensus on a successor. Both blamed the JMM for the stalemate. If he Soren is keen to resolve the problem,he should talk to the UPA leadership. Otherwise,Presidents rule cannot be ruled out, Balmuchu said.

Soren,who has been in hospital since the day after his resignation,has not spoken publicly but is said to be against Presidents rule. A JMM insider said Soren may agree to replace Champai with Nalin Soren who was agriculture minister in his government.