Floor test in Jharkhand today

New Delhi: Political uncertainty continues in Jharkhand as the beleaguered ruling coalition is set to face the floor test today.

The Assembly Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari is expected to deliver his ruling over petitions seeking disqualification of three lawmakers belonging to the opposite camp just before the assembly meets.

He concluded hearing on the issue yesterday. Indications available suggest that Namdhari may opt for the middle path by disqualifying only two of the three lawmakers, giving a reprieve to Anos Ekka.

Ekka was among the four ministers who crossed over to the rival group on September 5, triggering off the crisis for the 18-month-old government.

The reprieve to Ekka may in reality mean the opposition United Progressive Alliance (UPA) enjoys an edge by one vote in the 82- member assembly.

Strength

This has forced Chief Minister Arjun Munda and his political managers to reassess their strategy. According to sources in Munda's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), they were now trying to ensure two lawmakers from the opposition camp abstain during voting.

If two members are expelled and two abstain, the effective strength of the assembly would be reduced to 78, giving the Munda government a cosmetic majority.

According to indications available, the NDA is trying to rope in expelled Forward Bloc legislator Bhanu Pratap Sahi and Goans Democratic Party MLA Joba Majhi.

Ekka is the sole legislator of the Jharkhand Party and there is a dispute over who is the president of the regional outfit. Since Ekka also claims to have become president of the party after February 2005 polls, he cannot be disqualified from assembly membership for defying the whip issued by the deposed Jharkhand Party chief until the leadership dispute is resolved.

However, Kamlesh Singh who is also the sole legislator of the Nationalist Congress Party and independent Stephen Marandi may get disqualified. While Singh defied the whip of the NCP by voting in favour of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in March last year, Marandi resigned his Rajya Sabha seat which he had won as a nominee of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha only after taking oath as an assembly member after winning as a rebel candidate.