JMM withdraws support from Jharkhand government

The legislators of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, led by senior leader Shibu Soren, on Tuesday met Governor Syed Ahmad to formally withdraw support to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state.

Shibu Soren handed the letter of withdrawal of support to the governor after he withdrew support to the BJP-led Arjun Munda government on Monday evening, reducing it to minority, after talks between the two sides fail to reach an agreement.

The Jharkhand cabinet, which met on Tuesday, has recommended dissolution of the assembly in the wake of the ongoing political crisis in the state.

The decision of the cabinet was faxed to Jharkhand Governor Syed Ahmad on Tuesday. Chief Minister Arjun Munda is expected to meet the governor shortly.
 
"We have recommended dissolving the assembly and a letter regarding this has been faxed to the governor," Munda said on Tuesday.

The decision to pull out was taken after a meeting of JMM leaders at Ranchi even though Munda met JMM chief Shibu Soren and his son Hemant at their residence.

The latest development came after the BJP refused to bow down to the JMM's demands.

The JMM supremo, who wanted the BJP to hand over power to his political outfit, has called for an immediate change in leadership.

Soren had earlier threatened the BJP that his political outfit would walk out of the alliance if the chief minister's post is not handed over to the JMM as part of a deal under which the two parties had agreed to share it for 28 months each.

Both the JMM and the BJP have 18 Members of Legislative Assembly in the 81-member Jharkhand assembly. If the JMM withdraws its support, the Munda government will fall.

Munda, whose 28-month tenure ends on January 10, had last week said he had in writing rejected the JMM's claim that there was a power sharing deal between the two parties and that the latter has to take a decision keeping the stability of the government in mind.