With a letter of support from BJP chief Nitin Gadkari and a cold shoulder from the rest of the party top brass,Arjun Munda on Saturday began his journey as the Jharkhand CM for the third time. Although he skipped the swearing-in ceremony in Ranchi,Gadkari,in a show of support to the man he favoured for the post,wrote a letter to Munda saying he trusted his experience and administrative skills and hoped he would meet the expectations of the people of Jharkhand and the BJP. Senior leaders L K Advani and Arun Jaitley gave the oath-taking ceremony a miss. Gadkari,who celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi in his hometown Nagpur,made a conscious attempt to dispel the perception that the decision to revive the ties with the JMM and anoint Munda the CM was largely his with former BJP chief Rajnath Singhs active backing. In his letter,he congratulated Munda personally and on behalf of the BJP rank and file and pointed out that he was unable to attend the swearing-in because of the festival. People of Jharkhand have high expectations from you and the party hopes that you will do everything possible to meet their expectations. BJP has always insisted on striving to give a high quality governance in the states it is ruling. I am confident that your government will offer a government that delivers to the people of Jharkhand, he wrote. Gadkari also pointed out that tribal communities have always reposed their faith in the BJP and its alliance partners and expressed hope that Munda would take care of their agonies and aspirations. The remark was telling as those who pushed Munda over leaders like Yashwant Sinha and state chief Raghubar Das had cited his tribal background to argue their case.
