NEW DELHI, April 28 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today withdrew support to the Jharkhand government on grounds that Chief Minister Shibu Soren had "betrayed" it by voting against the cut motion in the Lok Sabha.
Announcing the withdrawal of support, BJP general secretary Ananth Kumar said the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief had "behaved in a dubious manner and voted against the cut motion". He said the BJP parliamentary board has taken a "very serious note" of Soren's "betrayal" on Tuesday.
The parliamentary board was chaired by BJP president Nitin Gadkari and was attended by LK Advani, leaders of opposition in both the Houses Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, Jharkhand Deputy Chief Minister Raghuwar Das, former Chief Minister Arjun Munda and senior party leader Yashwant Sinha.
Ananth Kumar said Das would meet Jharkhand Governor MOH Farookh to convey the party's decision.
While the JMM is a member of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), its government in Jharkhand was supported by the BJP. On Dec 26, Soren had staked claim to form the government with support from 18 BJP legislators, five All Jharkhand Students Union members and two Independents. The JMM has 18 legislators in the 81-member assembly. The JMM has two members in the Lok Sabha.
