Speaker pulls the rug, Marandi falls

Though Marandi held on to his chair contesting the adoption of the motion amidst chaos, his exit seemed inevitable. Namdhari, who belongs to the Janata Dal (U), demanded Marandi’s resignation after announcing that the cut motion had been carried through through a voice vote.

Marandi later called on Governor M Rama Jois at the Raj Bhawan. Sources disclosed that the Governor had decided to summon Vidhan Sabha records to ascertain the facts.

The complacent BJP high command, which had earlier ruled out Marandi’s replacement, was stumped by the dramatic developments at Ranchi. The leadership, realising that the game was up in Jharkahnd, appeared to be preparing itself for what was bound to follow. General secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told The Indian Express: ‘‘We are watching the situation. We are in touch with Babulal Marandi and other state leaders. Our party president M Venkaiah Naidu would return to New Delhi from a tour late tonight. We will review the situation thereafter.’’

With their MLAs virtually on their own, the central leaders of the Samata Party and the Janata Dal (United) were as helpless as those of the BJP. Smata Party spokesman Shambhu Sharan Shrivastav demanded the imposition of President’s rule to prevent horse-trading. He said, ‘‘The formation of an any alternative government would not be possible without horse-trading. It will only mean a continuation of political instability.’’

The events at Ranchi overtook Marandi as well as the high command. The rebels, playing their cards deftly, struck after offering the chief ministership to Namdhari. The day began on a dramatic note. Seven ministers submitted their resignations to Namdhari and sat on the opposition benches in the assembly.

Of the seven, two — Energy Minister Lalchand Mahato and Minister of State for Sports Baidyanath Ram — belonged to the JD(U), while three — Revenue Minister Madhu Singh, Public Health Minister Jaleshwar Mahato and Excise Minister Ramesh Singh Munda — belonged to the Samata Party.

Of the remaining two, Tourism Minister Joba Majhi belonged to the United Goa Democratic Party and Technology Minister S R Singh to the Jharkhand Vananchal committee.

After Industry Minister P N Singh presented his department’s Rs 2.32 crore budget, Hemlal Murmu of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha put forth a motion against it by prososing a cut of Rs 10 in it. During the post-lunch sitting, the seven ministers arrived. Lalchand Mahato shouted that they had resigned, while the other six sought the permission from Namdhari to sit on the opposition benchs. Namdhari nodded his head and they sat among opposition members.

This triggered protests by BJP members. A dozen BJP MLAs walked into the well and started raising slogans against Namdhari. Some of them assauled the staff, some others broke the sound system and furniture. Amid the chaos, two things happened in quick succession.

While Ravindra Rai of the BJP tabled a no-confidence motion against the Speaker alleging that he had hatched a conspiracy to pull down the government unconstitutionally, Namdhari ruled that Murmu’s motion had been passed with a voice vote.

This left the House in utter chaos with Opposition members and the seven ministers laughing and giggling as the treasury benches comprising 31 BJP MLAs, independent MLA Madhao Lal, United Goa Democratic Party’s Sudesh Mahato and Road Construction Minister Baccha Singh (Samata) shouting slogans against Namdhari, who managed to escape unhurt.

Even as the walls of the assembly echoed with cries against Namdhari, Marandi remained confined to his chamber. He came out after the BJP MLA Loknath Mahato, in absence of Namdhari, announced House had been adjourned for 15 days.