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Back to square one in Jharkhand

The pendulum has swung once again in the perennially troubled State of Jharkhand. Four independent MLAs who propped up the Arjun Munda-led National Democratic Alliance Government in return for plum ministerial berths have switched allegiance to the United Progressive Alliance. The reversal of fortunes was not unexpected given Chief Minister Munda's running battle with dissidents ever since he dramatically seized power from Shibu Soren a year-and-a-half ago. It is evident that the Munda Government has been reduced to a minority: in an 82-member Legislative Assembly, the National Democratic Alliance's strength has dropped from 42 to 38. Chief Minister Munda, of course, is not reconciled to the situation, claiming he will be able to prove his majority. Quite properly, Governor Syed Sibtey Razi has asked Mr. Munda to prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly by September 14. There are bound to be attempts at horse trading if the past is any guide. Consider the defection saga that has, by turn, brought ruin to governments in the State — Shibu Soren had to go in less than a fortnight, Mr. Munda has been in power all of 18 months. The problem arises from an election that produced no winner, only a host of Independents on offer to the highest bidder. (As many as 11 Assembly seats went to `others', while the NDA and the UPA won 37 and 33 seats respectively.)

No sooner had the election ended than the UPA made a failed play for power. The swearing in of the minority Shibu Soren Government, even as the NDA paraded its 41 MLAs before the President, happened in circumstances so unedifying that the Prime Minister had to intervene to bring the farce to an end. The denouement followed much toing and froing by defectors who ultimately elected to go with the numerically stronger and more resourceful NDA. While the NDA managers won the day, it was obvious to anyone who watched the spectacle — of legislators being spirited away, being `admitted' to hospital, and so forth — that Chief Minister Munda was living on borrowed time. It was perhaps inevitable that a government formed by defection should be brought down by defection. Whether the latest events will bring a spell of stability to the beleaguered State is of course anybody's guess. The last thing Jharkhand needs is a government run by Independents with outside support from the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal — the formula reported to be in circulation. The Congress and the RJD ought to know better, considering that the UPA and the NDA have both paid for their short-sighted approach to power. Governor Razi must play scrupulously fair at least this time, eschewing the tendency to overreach himself — as he did in March 2005 when he hastily invited Mr. Soren to form a government, and more recently when he unwisely delayed giving his consent to the Jharkhand Legislator Disqualification Prevention Bill, 2006.

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