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Soren will eat humble pie before BJP

Soroor Ahmed in Patna

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief, Shibu Soren, who is likely to meet National Democratic Alliance leaders in New Delhi on Friday, will now have to hold fresh talks on the terms set by the BJP and not his own.

After two rounds of JMM legislature party meeting in Patna on Wednesday night and Thursday, he has realised his weakness, that his own party men are not entirely behind him. Besides, he was under intense pressure from a section of the JMM leadership which wanted to strike a deal with the BJP rather than sit in the Opposition or form an unimaginative alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress and left parties.

Since the arithmetic is not with the JMM, it is now futile to press the issue of chief ministership further, though apparently Soren is still insisting that he would accept nothing less. Recent developments, however, have thrown cold water on his ambition.

First, in the words of JMM leaders, the Samata Party, followed by the Janata Dal-United, betrayed it. This was followed by the announcement of some smaller parties and independent MLAs to side with the NDA.

With the NDA already in a majority, there is no urgent need for the BJP to win over the 12 JMM MLAs. It is now in the latter's interest to join the government and accept whatever offer is made to them.

The NDA now has the support of 45 MLAs in a House of 81. On the other Hand, the JMM-RJD-Congress-Left alliance will now have only 36 legislators with it.

However, differences appear to have surfaced within the JMM too, with the legislature party leader, Stefan Marandi, not pleased with the way the BJP has offered the deputy chief ministership to Soren's son, Durga Soren, also an MLA.

Marandi was a minister in the seven-day government of Nitish Kumar last March.

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