Under attack from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led opposition in Parliament, the Union government on Friday distanced itself from the developments in Jharkhand, saying there is no question of its intervention in the state.
"Constitution clearly earmarks jurisdiction of state legislature and Parliament...expression of confidence or no confidence is the exclusive jurisdiction of members of the state assembly. We want the decision should be taken on the floor of the Jharkhand assembly," Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee said intervening in an impromptu debate in the Lok Sabha.
The trial of strength of the Shibu Soren-led government in the Jharkhand assembly was stalled on Friday with the House adjourned repeatedly over disagreements on procedures.
Also see: Jharkhand trust vote stalled
Uproarious scenes were witnessed with the Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha members clashing with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance MLAs over the role of Pro-tem Speaker Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu in conducting the vote of confidence.
The Supreme Court had on Wednesday ordered the Shibu Soren government to prove its majority on the floor of the House on March 11.
The court had also asked the pro-tem speaker to keep the proceedings in the House peaceful and report the outcome of the floor test faithfully to the court.
While the NDA MLAs insisted that the pro-tem speaker conduct only the trial of strength, the UPA questioned the pro-tem speaker's authority to conduct the trust vote.
The Left parties, partners in the ruling United Progressive Alliance at the Centre, have also expressed concern over the developments in the state.
Communist Party of India leader Gurudas Dasgupta has said Soren should not have been allowed to form the government.
Jharkhand Governor Syed Sibtey Razi had, in a controversial decision, invited Soren to form the government when the NDA appeared to have the numbers in its favour.
Asserting that the UPA and the Union government have nothing to do with developments taking place in Jharkhand, Mukherjee said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Shivraj Patil and others have made it quite clear that what is happening there is a matter of the state.