Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren’s fate hung in the balance today as he lost the bypoll for the Tamar seat by nearly 9,000 votes. He was defeated by the Jharkhand Party’s Gopal Krishna Patar alias Raja Peter, despite enjoying the support of both the Congress and the RJD.

Soren took over as Chief Minister on August 27 after being released from jail following his acquittal by the Delhi High Court in the Shashi Nath Jha kidnapping and murder case. Since the law requires him to win an Assembly seat within six months of becoming a minister, that leaves the JMM leader time till only February 27 to get elected to continue in the post.

Soren told journalists he would consult Congress president Sonia Gandhi and RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav before taking any decision. Asked if he would quit, he looked the other way. However, the Chief Minister’s Press Advisor, Shafique Ansari, said: “He can quit any time.” Late in the evening, Soren left for New Delhi, accompanied by former chief minister Madhu Koda, following a call from the Congress high command.

The loss from the reserved constituency in the January 5 election is a slap on the face for Soren, who had addressed over two dozen meetings while campaigning for the seat. Given the Naxal hold in the area, he even referred to the Maoists as his “bhai, behan (brother, sister)” time and again, and this may not have gone down well with the voters. Unhappiness with his four-month-old government and the bickering within the JMM-Congress-RJD-CPI coalition may have also played a role.

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