Soren breaks deal with BJP, won’t quit

Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren made a u-turn on his resignation deadline on Thursday, sending the power sharing pact between the BJP and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha into another tailspin.

Soren said he will not stick to the May 25 deadline to quit office in favour of the BJP’s Arjun Munda. “I am the chief minister and will remain so,” he said. He said negotiations were not yet over and JMM is talking to the Congress as well.

Munda reacted cautiously to Soren’s statement. “We are waiting for the deadline, as Soren had not shown any unwillingness
to resign. We have had various issues of governance. Everything will fall in line by then,” Munda told HT.

Soren and Munda held a joint press conference on May 18, announcing Soren would quit by May 25. They claimed the deal for the share of power had been finalised on rotation basis.

“If the situation warrants, I will contest the assembly elections in order to remain chief minister. JMM is still talking to other political parties including the Congress on the issue,” Soren said.