By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Chief Minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soren’s winning trust motion on July 8 was on expected line, but its significance goes beyond just a formality in the Vidhan Sabha and a foregone conclusion. No vote was cast against the motion amidst BJP’s walk-out from the House, signifying a total unity among the INDIA bloc allies on the one hand, and the utter failure of the alleged ‘operation lotus’ to break up the allies or the parties therein on the other. Additionally, BJP’s walk-out is indicative of its waning political strength both in the House and in the state, at a time when Vidhan Sabha elections are scheduled to be held by 2024 year-end.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Executive President Hemant Soren after being taken oath again as Chief Minister on July 4 went for a floor test in Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha on Monday, July 8, 2024, and got 45 votes in support, while the majority mark in the 81 seat House is currently only 39, since 5 seats are vacant. There are currently only 76 MLAs in the Vidhan Sabha.
Among the INDIA bloc allies JMM has 27 MLAs in the House while INC has 16, CPI (ML)L 1, NCP 1, and RJD 1. A total of 45 votes cast in favour of Hemant Soren’s trust vote. It should be noted that BJP has only 23 MLAs in the House, while its allies AJSU party has 3. Obviously, the BJP was not in a position to face the motion of trust by Hemant Soren in the House. Of the 76 MLAs, 46 are aligned with INDIA bloc, while only 30 are with BJP led NDA.
Pradeep Yadav, who had won as JVM (P) candidate, and now with the ruling coalition, has said that the BJP was trying to continuously destabilize the government by using “Operation Lotus”, but failed. “Operation Lotus” is a term denoting the BJP’s tactics of breaking up the non-BJP political parties through horse trading or by threat to the individual leader of ED or CBI actions giving them only two option – either support BJP or join BJP.
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been saying the opposition INDIA bloc is a pack of corrupt politicians for several months now. He had vowed to take action against all corrupt politicians in the country. ED action against Hemant Soren is just part of PM Modi’s strategy against the opposition leader. ED had arrested him on money laundering charges on January 31 in connection of a land scam involving 8.86 acres in Ranchi, while the High Court of Jharkhand had given him bail on June 28 saying that there exist “reasons to believe that Soren is not guilty.”
Just before arrest by ED, Hemant Soren had resigned from the post of Chief Minister, and made Champai Soren Chief Minister of the state. During the motion of trust, Pradeep Yadav has also referred to the numerous corruptions during the former BJP government in the state, and to substantiate his allegation he waived the front page of a book by former BJP leader and currently an independent MLA Saryu Roy in which there was mention of alleged corruption during the BJP regime. He also presented a booklet by Babulal Marandi, when he was not in the BJP, but now Jharkhand BJP President, which detailed 46 corruption allegation against the BJP.
Just before the trust vote, Hemant Soren said on BJP’s staging walk-out that the opposition does not have any agenda, that is shy its leaders are creating ruckus in the assembly. He also thanked Champai Soren for running the government and saving it during his five-month period in jail. He also said that even half of the opposition MLAs will not come back after the upcoming Vidhan Sabha election.
His claim about the BJP’s imminent political loss is not off the mark if we look at the Lok Sabha election result 2024. BJP has lost 3 of is 11 seats, chiefly because of its support base shifting to other political parties, especially to a new entrant Jharkhand Bhasa Khatiyan Sangharsh Samiti (JBKSS) led by Jairam Mahto. Mahtos have traditionally BJP voters but young generation has shifted away from the party to JBKSS, which led to the loss. Mahtos who were formerly ST, now again demanding ST status, which BJP leaders have been denying. JBKSS has announced to contest majority of seats in the forthcoming assembly election and hence BJP is in great difficulty.
BJP’s ally Nitish Kumar led JD(U) has already decided to contest Jharkhand Vidhan Sabha election without taking BJP into confidence, though they are part of NDA government in Bihar and at the Centre. It is indicative of the fact that everything is not well within the NDA.
On the other hand, INDIA bloc allies are wonderfully united, as the votes in favour of Hemant Soren’s motion of trust show. Hemant Soren had taken oath as Chief Minister for the third time on July 4 after his release on bail. As part of strengthening the INDIA bloc unity, Hemant Soren is likely to expand his cabinet soon, which have already been discussed. (IPA Service)
