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Journalism of Courage
It was a working Sunday for the Jharkhand assembly secretariat today. Secretary Amarnath Jha and his dozen odd staff turned up to execute Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari’s order to hold the session tomorrow.
In the absence of any word from Governor M Rama Jois that would have cleared the confusion over the Speaker — who wants to be the CM — convening the assembly for a trial of strength tomorrow and the cabinet chosing March 27-28 for the purpose, uncertainty prevailed in the state. Some political observers read the Governor’s instructions to the assembly secretariat for adequate security as backing the Speaker.
Namdhari didn’t seem to have any doubts about holding the trial of strength tomorrow. Defending his conduct by citing business rules, he said the session would be held under tight security and the proceedings would be videotaped.
A nervous Marandi — whose fate hangs in the balance with rumours afloat that he may be replaced by the BJP leadership and that he may step down faced with defeat in the House — declined to give any categorical answer to whether the MLAs of the treasury benches would attend the session tomorrow or not. A meeting at his house remained inconclusive.
An NDA delegation of five MLAs, led by parliamentary affairs minister Ram Chandra Kesari, late tonight met the Governor to plead against the Speaker’s conduct. The Governor is reported to have assured them that he would look into their complaint.
At the assembly, locks hanged outside the rooms of the MLAs belonging to the Congress, JMM, RJD, MCC and CPI. At least 32 MLAs, including the rebel ministers — Joba Manjhi, Baidhnath Ram, Lalchand Mahato and Madhu Singh — had boarded a deluxe bus, Krishna Rath, owned by RJD leader Krishna Yadav and gone to Bundu to attend a ‘party’ hosted by rebel ministers Jaleshwar Mahato and Ramesh Singh Munda of the Samata Party. Munda has his ancestral house there.
‘‘They will return after dinner so that they don’t become victims of poachers,’’ said a Congress worker, Anirudh Singh. But another rebel minister, Samresh Singh — who was visited by Marandi and ex-UP Chief Minister Rajnath Singh last night — didn’t join them. The Congress high command, meanwhile, rushed Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Ajit Jogi, to Ranchi following reports that the Marandi camp could try to lure away the tribal MLAs of the party.
According to the schedule notified by Jha’s office, the session will have just two points on the agenda: verbatim narration of the Governor’s March 14 ‘Message’ and the motion of confidence or no-confidence. ‘‘There is no third item on the agenda,’’ Jha told The Indian Express.
In his ‘Message’, issued by him in exercise of powers under Article 175 (2) of the Constitution, he has said: ‘‘Whereas an important question as to whether the Council of Ministers headed by Shri Babulal Marandi still enjoys the confidence of the House or not has arisen, I hereby request the Jharkhand Assembly to consider this question with convenient despatch having due regard to the requirement of passing of the Budget before March 31, 2003.’’
The decision by the Speaker — who was elected leader by 35 MLAs of the opposition parties and seven ministers who had quit the 28-month-old Marandi government and sat in the opposition benches on Friday — to hold the session has been dubbed as unconstitutional by Marandi.
‘‘The Speaker can’t call the session of the assembly without taking consent of the Leader of the Opposition. Being the CM, I am the leader of the House. But Namdhari didn’t consult me before convening the assembly,’’ said Marandi.
Justifying the cabinet’s decision to convene the session on March 27-28, he said ‘‘we have no trust in the Speaker. Moreover, there are many members who have submitted applications expressing their unwillingness to attend the session a day before Holi,’’ he said.
Namdhari, in turn, cited the Jharkhand assembly’s Rules of Executive Business — Chapter V, Rule 24: ‘‘When the Speaker gets the ‘message’ of the Governor under Article 175 (2), then he will read out this message in the House and give necessary directive. While giving such directive, the Speaker will be free to the extent of amending or overruling the rules as per the requirement.’’
Amidst talk that BJP might consider replacing Marandi with Union minister Karia Munda, party chief M Venkaiah Naidu indicated in Kolkata today that the party would not be averse to that but only after a floor test on March 27. Meanwhile, the Jharkhand Adivasi Moolwasi Janadhikar Manch activists, led by Bandhu Tirkey, took to streets with flaming torches, protesting against any decision to have a non-tribal CM. The Manch has called for a dawn-to-dusk Ranchi bandh tomorrow.
