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Second chance for Soren

Riding solely on a manufactured majority, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha president Shibu Soren was sworn in Chief Minister of Jharkhand for the second time since the present Assembly was constituted. The first time, in March 2005 immediately after the Assembly election, Mr. Soren had to resign just nine days after assuming office because he could not muster the numbers required to face the floor test. His second bid reflected considerable political opportunism and reckless adventu rism, linked as it was to the support extended by the JMM for the Manmohan Singh government during its crucial confidence vote on July 22. It also rendered easier the task of manipulating and cobbling together a majority, with the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal doing all the spadework. Both the Congress and the RJD were repaying Mr. Soren for his support. Ironically, he counts among his new-found supporters the outgoing Chief Minister Madhu Koda who reluctantly made way for him after much persuasion by the Congress and the RJD. Mr. Koda himself enjoyed only a wafer-thin majority in the 81-member House. Mr. Soren is well aware that he will have to carry along every single member of the post-election coalition. On offer ahead of the July 22 confidence vote was a Union Cabinet post, but the JMM leader had his eyes on the Chief Ministership all along. Although the Cabinet berth was guaranteed, while the Chief Ministership depended on several ifs and buts, Mr. Soren chose the politically riskier course. After realising that it was futile to wait for the Congress to prepare the ground for his takeover in Jharkhand, the JMM leader took matters into his hands by withdrawing his party’s support to the Koda government. With Mr. Soren seizing the initiative, the Congress and, more reluctantly, the RJD, Mr. Koda and his band of Independents, were forced to hitch their fortunes onto Mr. Soren’s bandwagon.

Through all these developments, Governor Syed Sibtey Razi has not put a foot wrong. Once the JMM withdrew support, Mr. Koda was given time to prove his majority on the floor of the House. And when he stepped down without facing the confidence test, Mr. Soren, who was evidently in command of the numbers, was given the chance. Given the fragmented nature of the 2005 election verdict, Mr. Soren will need more than mere persuasive skills to remain in office. The real challenge will be to hold together a rickety coalition that is pulling in different directions. The tribal State, already woefully short on governance, seems set for a spell of political instability.

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