Bjp Observers Rajnath Singh and Ananth Kumar on Tuesday met party legislators here and elicited their opinions on the leader of their choice for the Chief Ministers post. It is reliably learnt that most of the 18 party MLAs backed former chief minister Arjun Munda,a tribal,for the post. Mundas position is strengthened as even Chief Minister Shibu Soren,who treats him as a disciple because of his early days of political life in the JMM,was learnt to be inclined to accept him as his successor. A JMM legislator,who did not want to be named,said: In the given tight scenario,only Mundaji will be able to lead a stable government. At their meet with the party observers,however,at least three MLAs,including Neelkanth Singh Munda and Deputy Chief Minister Raghuvar Das,an aspirant for the top job himself,opposed the choice of Munda. If the new government is formed,Sorens son Hemant is sure to become Deputy CM. He is a tribal. And so the CM ought to be a non-tribal like Das, argued a supporter of the Deputy CM. The two observers will apprise BJP president Nitin Gadkari of the situation in New Delhi on Wednesday. But before the BJP leadership makes public the partys candidate for the top post,it hopes to secure letters of support signed by MLAs of its allies the All Jharkhand Students Union,JD (U) and JMM. As per our talks held with them earlier we expect to get these letters soon, BJP state unit spokesperson Sanjay Seth told The Indian Express. Although the JD (U) and the AJSU were ready to hand over these letters,the JMM,which held its legislature party meeting Tuesday evening,has so far failed to collect the signatures of all its MLAs. Three of its dissident MLAs Simon Marandi,Teklal Mahato and Polus Surin who is in jail did not attend the meeting. In the House of 82 members (including one nominated member),the BJP(18),JD-U(2),AJSU(5) and JMM(18) coalition has a razor thin majority of 43. In case Marandi,Mahato and Surin do not support it,a government led by a BJP Chief Minister may find it difficult to prove majority on the floor of the House. With the BJP having already making its intention clear of ruling the rest of the tenure,a PTI report said the JMM has now asked BJP to share power with them on 50:50 basis (on the number of ministers). The report quoted JMM leader and Shibu Sorens son Hemant as saying that the party would wait for BJPs response to the sharing of power and would again discuss on the issue on May 12.
