How Numbers Stack up In Jharkhand Assembly | EXPLAINED

Jharkhand Political Crisis: Political mercury is rising in Ranchi as the new Champai Soren government will take the floor test today after former Chief Minister Hemant Soren resigned from his post before his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a land scam case. 

47 to 43: Four JMM MLAs go incommunicado?  

Earlier, Champai Soren had claimed the support of 47 MLAs. After being elected as JMM legislative party leader, Champai Soren had said, “We will continue to work to safeguard the pride of Jharkhand. We have staked claim to form the government in the state. We have the support of 47 MLAs.”  However, within a span of 24 hours, the number had dropped down with sources claiming that the leaders were not able to establish contact with the four JMM MLAs. 

Can BJP form government in Jharkhand? 

Amid the ongoing political crisis, it is being speculated that a high-voltage political drama could ensue in the next 48 hours. Let’s understand this through numbers:

In the 81-seat Jharkhand Legislative Assembly, the ruling coalition under the JMM has 49 MLAs. The JMM is the single-largest party with 29 MLAs, and the Congress stands next in the coalition with 17 MLAs. The RJD and the CPI(ML) account for one MLA each. The ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in Jharkhand comprises a total of 49 MLAs, while the majority mark in the Jharkhand legislative assembly is 41. 

However, other parties under the banner of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) account for 32 MLAs, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alone accounting for 26 MLAs, including the MLAs from the Babulal Marandi faction. One of the BJP’s oldest alliance partners – a party that had recently drifted – has 3 MLAs, while there are two Independents and one NCP MLA from the Ajit Pawar-faction. The total adds up to 31, just a few seats short of the magic number. 

Mahagathbandhan fears poaching 

Amid political crisis, JMM-led alliance MLAs were flown to a resort in the Congress-ruled Hyderabad, in order to prevent them from “being poached”.