Jharkhand floor test: JMM coalition set to sail through with 48 MLAs vs NDA’s 29

With the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led coalition MLAs making their way back to Ranchi from Hyderabad, all eyes are now on the floor test in the Jharkhand assembly, scheduled to begin at 11am on Monday.

Champai Soren who took the oath as the chief minister following Hemant Soren’s arrest will prove his majority in the Assembly. Former chief minister Hemant Soren will walk out of the jail to take part in the voting process.

Jharkhand floor test: Resort politics, JMM-Congress strong
1. Jharkhand Assembly has 81 seats and the majority mark is 41. JMM-coalition has a comfortable majority with 48 MLAs — JMM 29, Congress 17, RJD and CPI(ML) one each. However, not all MLAs may participate in the floor test. The NDA has 29 MLAs including BJP’s 26 seats, AJSU 3. Rest 3 are Independents and others.

2. When Hemant Soren was arrested on January 31 by the ED in an alleged land scam, Champai Soren went to the governor claiming the support of 43 MLAs. Some MLAs did not sign the support letter, but they are with the coalition, the JMM said.

3. The coalition MLAs were flown to Hyderabad to foil any attempt of the BJP to poach them. They spent the weekend at Leonia Resort under heavy security where they were not accessible by any outsider and other guests of the resort.

4. Congress, the junior partner in the coalition government, bore the expenditure of the MLAs’ resort stay.

5. When Champai Soren meets Hemant Soren on Monday on the floors of the Assembly, the issue of inducting at least one MLA from Hemant’s family to the cabinet will be discussed. Hemant Soren’s brother Basant Soren is likely to become a minister.

6. In 2022, Hemant Soren as the chief minister faced a trust vote in the assembly and won it with the votes of 48 MLAs.

7. While all is well in the JMM coalition, one dissenting voice is Lobin Hembrom, a senior JMM leader and a critic of Hemant Soren. Lobin said there was no need to shift the MLAs to such a lavish resort at a time when Jharkhand’s majority of people struggle to make both ends meet.

8. The JMM leadership, however, said Hembrom will vote in favour of the coalition government in the floor test.

9. While Hemant Soren will take part in the floor test, the Jharkhand high court is scheduled to hear Hemant Soren’s petition against the ED arrest. The Supreme Court did not hear the matter and asked Hemant to approach the high court.

10. ED has arrested Jharkhand tax department official Bhanu Pratap in connection with Hemant Soren. Bhanu Pratap was already in jail in another land scam.