Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, whose disqualification as an MLA hangs in balance amid an illegal office-of-profit case, won a confidence motion with the vote of 48 MLAs in the 81-member state Assembly, on Monday, 5 September.
The trust vote was tabled in the special session of the state Assembly earlier in the day.
Soren also attacked the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said:
"They want to create an atmosphere of civil war and want to fan riots to win polls. As long as there is UPA government here, such plots will not survive. You will get a befitting political reply."
He had earlier said, "The opposition has destroyed democracy. The BJP has been indulging in horse-trading of legislators... We will show our strength in the House."
He added, "We have heard of people buying clothes, ration, grocery. But only the BJP is into buying legislators."
After allegedly dodging poaching bids by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), over 30 MLAs from the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led UPA alliance, who took refuge in Chhattisgarh five days ago, had returned to Ranchi on Sunday evening.
Meanwhile, BJP in Jharkhand took part in the special session on Monday and sloganeered throughout the session. They also staged a walk-out right before the trust vote.
The opposition had reportedly met around 9 am to finalise the party's strategy for the assembly session during which CM Soren sought a vote of trust.
“We will participate in the special session. But, the BJP would strongly protest if the government tries to bring in any bill, as there is a one-line agenda in the schedule, which says the CM will seek a trust vote,” party whip, Biranchi, Narayan told PTI.
CM Soren had held a meeting of UPA MLAs in the morning as well.
Background
As per a letter sent to MLAs by the assembly secretariat, Soren had expressed his willingness to move a motion of confidence to prove his majority, amid the political crisis in the state.
Following a petition by the BJP seeking Soren's disqualification from the assembly in the office-of-profit case, the Election Commission (EC) communicated its decision to Governor Ramesh Bais on 25 August.
Though the EC's decision has still not been conveyed, the BJP has repeatedly claimed that the poll panel recommended Soren’s disqualification as an MLA.
Meanwhile, former chief minister and leader of opposition, Babulal Marandi, had earlier said that a special session to seek a vote of trust is beyond comprehension.
“In general, a state government seeks trust vote when the governor or a court orders the same. But, that's not the case in Jharkhand. It is clear that the government does not trust its MLAs,” Marandi said.
While the ruling coalition has 49 MLAs in the 81-member assembly in which the majority mark is 41. The JMM, the largest party, has 30 MLAs, the Congress 18, and Tejashwi Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has one.
The BJP on the other hand has 26 MLAs.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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