Jharkhand: Soren govt wins confidence vote amid walkout by BJP MLAs

The Jharkhand Assembly on Monday passed the confidence motion tabled by Chief Minister Hemant Soren amid a walkout staged by the BJP legislators.

As many as 48 MLAs voted in favour of the confidence motion in the 81-member Assembly. The ruling coalition in Jharkhand has 49 seats in the 81-member assembly. The majority mark is 41 seats in the assembly. The JMM, the largest party, has 30 MLAs, the Congress 18, and Tejashwi Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has one. The BJP has 26 seats.

Speaking during the one-day special session, Soren said the need for trust vote was felt as BJP was "attempting to destabilise democratically elected governments" in non-BJP ruled states, including Jharkhand.

Hemant Soren accused the BJP of attempting a "civil war-like situation" in the country by fueling riots to win elections. He also alleged that his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma was involved in "buying Jharkhand MLAs" in order to bring down his government, reported NDTV

"The opposition has destroyed democracy. The BJP has been the indulging in horse-trading of legislators... We will show our strength in the house," the Chief Minister said in the assembly against the backdrop of slogan-shouting by BJP MLAs.

"We have heard of people buying clothes, ration, grocery. But only the BJP is into buying legislators," he alleged.

Asked why he wanted the trust vote, Hemant Soren told reporters: "Who will take a trust vote? The opposition?"

He added, "The opposition has spread a web of conspiracies to bring me down. They will be trapped in the web of their own making," reported NDTV

Shortly after, the assembly was adjourned sine-die.

A political drama was created when the BJP claimed that CM Soren abused power and granted a mining lease in his own favour. The Election Commission of India took cognisance of the matter and sent Soren a notice seeking his version. The Election Commission has submitted its opinion to the state Governor who is yet to make it public.

Soren and his party JMM have alleged blatant misuse of constitutional authority and public agencies in the entire process and said that the BJP, taking advantage of the issue is trying to lure the MLAs and bring down the government as they have done in the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.