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Jharkhand : UPA ousts NDA

	September 18, 2006

At long last, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will have its Government in Jharkhand, ousting the BJP-JDU alliance headed by Arjun Munda. The portents for the Arjun Munda government had become clear earlier this month when four Independent MLAs, who were also Ministers, deserted the NDA coalition. Initially, Arjun Munda put a brave face on the developments saying that he would be able to prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly. But with Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari keeping in abeyance a decision on the disqualification petitions against three rebel MLAs, the writing on the wall was clear and he put in his papers on Thursday, Sept. 14.



Sources close to the BJP say that the party abandoned its plan to save the Arjun Munda government when it became clear that the success of any such effort would be shortlived and may be counter-productive. The decision to give up the effort to hold on to power in Jharkhand is reported to have been taken at a meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday night (Sept. 13). It was attended by party president Rajnath Singh, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani and senior leader M. Venkaiah Naidu, who briefed the others on the developments in Jharkhand on his return from Ranchi.



Earlier this month, immediately after four Ministers rebelled against Munda, the BJP leadership decided at a core committee group meeting that he should not resign and his Government should be saved. However, later, a different view was taken, given the “unease” among the party MLAs. “We are the largest party and yet we had just three Ministers in the Munda Government. All plum posts went to independents and others,” a senior BJP leader said.



Admitting that some RJD and even Jharkhand Mukti Morcha legislators were “in touch with Arjun Munda,” a party leader said the BJP, however, could not accept their “conditions” for support, as they were demanding specific portfolios. It was decided that it would be better for Munda to resign than save his Government now and face a similar predicament a few months later.



Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari was reported to be “ready” to disqualify the three rebel MLAs and then conduct a trial of strength. However, after the BJP’s decision that Munda should resign became known, the Speaker chose not to give his verdict on the disqualification issue. He later resigned as Speaker.



Some party leaders pointed out that the BJP could not ignore the fact that its former MP Babulal Marandi was waiting in the wings to make the most of the disquiet among the party legislators. In the party’s assessment, sooner rather than later, mid-term elections would take place and it was better to prepare for that than gain temporary relief by saving the Munda Government.



In a statement, Rajnath Singh accused the Congress of indulging in its ‘favourite game’ of toppling non-Congress Governments whenever it was in power at the Centre.





Madhu Koda to be sworn in today



Creating history, an Independent MLA Madhu Koda is to be sworn in as Chief Minister today, Sept. 18. This would be the first time in the country that an Independent MLA has been chosen to lead a coalition consisting of the mainstream parties such as the Congress and the RJD. Koda met Governor Syed Sibtey Razi on Thursday, Sept. 14 and staked his claim to form a government.



Earlier, Arjun Munda’s resignation was announced in the Assembly after it convened for a special one-day session to test the strength of his Government. A shortwhile before Munda made the announcement, 43 MLA opposed to the NDA entered the Assembly together. On the other hand, there were only 39 Members including the nominated MLA on the Treasury Benches.



After the adjournment of the Assembly, MLAs supporting the UPA met leaders of the alliance including Union Ministers Lalu Prasad Yadav and Shibu Soren who had flown in from Delhi. Later, they said Madhu Koda would lead the new Government.



The new Government is to be sworn in at a function at Morahabadi Maidan for the first time. All of Madhu Koda’s predecessors had taken their oath of office at Raj Bhavan.



Governor Razi has asked Koda to prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly on or before Sept. 25. The date of the floor test is expected to be announced after the swearing in ceremony at 3 p.m. today.



While the Congress is happy at the fall of the NDA Government, the party’s central leadership has not yet decided on whether to join the new Government. A senior Congress leader said in New Delhi that the matter will be decided after the trust vote.



Observers say that RJD chief and Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has reasons to rejoice at the change of government. Jharkhand was the epicentre of the Rs. 1000 crore fodder scam which hit Lalu Prasad Yadav hard in 1996-98 when he had to relinquish the Chief Ministership of Bihar and spend a lot of time in prison. He is facing trial in five cases of the fodder scam in Jharkhand.



When Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar, Lalu had gone to court seeking trial of his cases in Bihar, expressing the fear that in the BJP-led Jharkhand, he could not hope to get a fair trial. However, the courts had ruled that the five conspiracy cases originating from Jharkhand, will be tried at Ranchi.



Lalu has reason to worry about the outcome of the trials. In most of the cases where the trial has concluded, even the minor accused were convicted. However, the conspiracy cases including politicians and bureaucrats have dragged on because of various reasons including the issue of validity of sanction for prosecution.



Recently, the Ranchi High Court, which is monitoring the fodder scam cases, had taken strong exception to the ‘dilly-dallying’ of the CBI is expediting the trial. With the witnesses yet to depose in most of the conspiracy angle cases involving Lalu Prasad, the significance of change of Government could not be lost.