Jharkhand: Sweep, but BJP may not rock Hemant’s boat

The fear now is whether BJP, which grabbed power at the Centre and increased its LS vote share from 27.53 in 2009 to 40.4 per cent in the state, will allow Hemant Soren government to complete its tenure. Early indications show BJP may be in no hurry, with state elections due in early 2015.

In the Lok Sabha polls,all nine Congress candidates lost, eight of them by a margin of over 60,000 votes. The Hemant government needs at least 39 MLAs to survive a floor test. “I will talk about the state government later,” said Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and BJP leader Arjun Munda, a former CM, indicating he was awaiting orders from central leadership of the party. “Our party has not considered a no confidence motion yet,” said Raghubar Das, another senior leader.

“We need 39 to survive,” said Congress state president Sukhdeo Bhagat.

When the Hemant government survived its floor test last year, 43 legislators voted in its favour.

On paper, the government now has support of 39 legislators. Two legislators who joined Trinamool Congress continue to offer support but Trinamool indicated it would review support post-LS elections. JMM leader Simon Marandi, who was sacked from cabinet recently and is still in the JMM may decide to go against the government. BJP leader Saryu Rai summed up the mood, “The mere presence of this government is a major boost for BJP. As long as this coalition is in power, good governance cannot happen.”