Shibu Soren to face floor test on March 15

The Jharkhand Assembly is likely to be convened on March 10 for the trial of strength for Soren Government.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren will face the trial of strength in the assembly on March 15 after Governor Syed Sibtey Razi advanced the schedule in the wake of a controversy generated over his decision to invite the JMM chief to form the Government.

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Returning from New Delhi after meeting President APJ Abdul Kalam and holding talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders, Razi held a meeting of various political parties, which was boycotted by the NDA, on advancing the date for the trust vote.

Later, Soren held a Cabinet meeting following which he said "we are ready to face the test if it is taken on March 15."

The Cabinet also recommended appointment of senior Congress leader Pradeep Kumar Balmachu as the pro tem Speaker.

The assembly session will begin on March 10 when newly elected members will take oath. The new Speaker will be elected on March 11 and the vote of confidence will be taken up on March 15.

After remaining closed on March 12 and 13, the House will sit again on March 14 when the Governor will deliver his address.

"No, not at all," Soren shot back when asked whether the advancement of the floor test, following Presidential intervention, should be considered a 'moral defeat' for his ministry.

Deputy Chief Minister Stephen Marandi, seen constantly prompting the Chief Minister and taking questions himself, said "the governor gave us time by March 21 to prove our majority -- which also meant we could have decided to take the test earlier. We want that, too."

Taking a swipe at former Chief Minister Arjun Munda for demanding that the governor should give only 48 hours to the new ministry to prove majority, Soren said "what is he doing sitting in Rajasthan when the governor has convened a meeting? Why did he not attend the meeting?"

Soren dismissed the charges made by first chief minister of the state Babulal Marandi that the JMM chief was still an absconder in a 32-year-old murder case.

"What was the Government doing all these years? I fought for the state and they had the pleasure of power, ruining the state," he said.

Rejecting Marandi's claim that the Governor had violated the Constitution by not administering the oath of office to at least 12 ministers, including the chief minister, Soren said, "The Constitution is being adhered to strictly."

He claimed that the family members of independent MLA Enos Ekka had been worried since his 'kidnapping' by the NDA, which had taken him to Delhi and now to Rajasthan.

However, Soren and his deputy Stephen Marandi were at a loss of words when asked why the administration had not lodged an FIR.