All 22 BJP legislators of Jharkhand on Wednesday tendered their resignations enmasse to Governor K Sankaranarayanan and Speaker Alamgir Alam.

On the day, the Supreme Court, while responding to MLAs’ petition seeking direction to the Centre and the Election Commission to dissolve the Assembly and hold polls immediately, decided to hear the plea before month-end. “We sought the intervention of the apex court as the Centre was using President’s rule to serve its interests,” state’s former Accountant General Anil K Sinha, the counsel of the petitioner, said.

The petition, filed by state BJP spokesperson Sanjay Seth, states that the objective behind keeping the Assembly in suspended animation was to leave scope for a party to make a claim to form the government. “However, no party put forth such a claim in the past more than eight months. On the contrary, most had gone on record to demand early elections. Besides, there is no legal obligation to keep the Assembly in suspended animation for an indefinite period,” states the petition.

“When Union Home Minister P Chidambaram had replied on the floor of the House that it was the need of the hour on the grounds that the elections cannot be held in monsoon, the Opposition believed him and did not object. But now, when the EC, in consultations with the Centre, has decided to hold elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh, it is grossly unfair,” said Sinha.

Meanwhile, following resignations by BJP MLAs, pressure is being mounted on the Governor and the Speaker to recommend dissolution of the Assembly. The BJP has decided to gherao the Raj Bhavan on October 11 to press for the dissolution of the Assembly and early polls.