BJP justifies volte-face on 'tainted' Soren

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which had once dubbed Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supremo Shibu Soren as 'tainted', on Wednesday saw nothing wrong in making him the chief minister of Jharkhand, saying it was a strategy to thwart attempts to break up parties or continue with President's Rule in the state.

Newly-appointed BJP chief Nitin Gadkari said his party would support the JMM for five years. But he evaded a query on what the BJP will do the Supreme Court rules against Soren, in the Shashinath Jha murder case, which is scheduled to come up for hearing soon.

"Politics is a game of political compulsions," he told PTI in an interview when asked why the BJP decided to form the government with JMM in Jharkhand. Incidentally, the  party had accused Soren of being 'tainted' and even stalled Parliament proceedings demanding his resignation as a minister in the previous United Progressive Alliance government.

"There is a difference between strategy and conviction," he said explaining the reasons behind the decision. He alleged that there were attempts to break up political parties to form a government in the wake of the hung assembly thrown up by the recent elections.

"We will cross the bridge when we come to it," he said when asked what the BJP would do if the murder charges against Soren are proved.

He justified the decision to form the government in Jharkhand, saying 'it was in the interest of the people' and expressed confidence in providing a clean, effective government in the state through a Common Minimum Programme.

Soren, heading a five-party coalition including BJP, was today sworn in as chief minister for the third time by Governor K Sankanarayanan.