We’re ready, says Hemant Soren; BJP eyes JMM, Congress rebels

RANCHI: His political fate sealed in an envelope from the Election Commission to the governor, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Thursday answered the question “What next?” with a defiant “We are ready.”
As speculation raged about Soren stepping down to make way for his wife, mother or either of two senior JMM members, the CM appeared to suggest the EC’s possible disqualification verdict against him in the office-of-profit case may have been thrust on it.
“How can those who buy constitutional bodies purchase the support of the people?” Soren tweeted, also posting a video of a Jharkhand Police delegation greeting him at his Kanke Road residence in Ranchi. “The love of thousands of Jharkhand Police personnel and the support of the people are my strength. Jai Jharkhand,” he wrote.
JMM Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji and Rajmahal MP Vijay Hansdak flanked Soren as he emerged from his residence to meet the police delegation that had turned up to express their gratitude for the Cabinet nod to reinstate the provision of annual compensatory leave for fourth-grade personnel.

While the JMM leadership remained tight-lipped about their plans in the event of Soren being disqualified and unable to contest a poll anytime soon, the buzz was that his wife Kalpana or mother Rupi could be asked to step in as his proxy. The other chief ministerial alternatives being spoken about were state welfare minister Joba Manjhi and transport minister Champai.
For JMM’s ally Congress, the prospect of infighting getting worse amid the political uncertainty would be the immediate worry. The party has 18 MLAs, of whom three — Irfan Ansari (Jamtara), Naman Bixal Kongari (Kolebira) and Rajesh Kachchap (Khijri) — were suspended following their arrest in Howrah last month along with Rs 49 lakh in cash.
The three are out on bail, but can’t leave Kolkata without a court’s nod. The remaining 15 MLAs started arriving in Ranchi late Thursday and will likely stay put till further orders from the party, sources said.
CLP leader and minister Alamgir Alam told TOI, “Neither Congress nor our coalition government is rattled by any situation as we have the strength of numbers with us. But in the current context, just to prevent any misadventure by BJP, all our MLAs have been called to Ranchi, barring the three who were suspended.”
BJP is hoping for an opening to appear before officially making a move, although many of its legislators were busy since morning discussing Soren’s “imminent disqualification” on social media.
The numbers game in the 81-member assembly may be clearly in favour of the JMM-Cong-RJD alliance, but BJP isn’t counting itself out against the backdrop of dissent in both JMM and Congress.
“Congress and JMM are aware that they are on a sticky wicket when it comes to their MLAs’ loyalty. In JMM, many sitting MLAs of Santhal Parganas have been speaking out against the party for long. Similar is the case with Congress,” a BJP functionary claimed. “There have been several voices of dissent against the CM, with many even within JMM unwilling to accept him as their leader. So, we are in wait-and-watch mode."