Ranchi: Fed up with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's (JMM's) Shibu Soren going back on the power sharing deal, the BJP has given him an ultimatum to step down by this morning or it will withdraw support.
In fact, the BJP has already fixed an appointment with the Governor.
"The BJP will withdraw support to JMM Government on Monday," state BJP spokesman Sanjay Seth said, a day after a defiant Soren asserted that he will continue as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand and was in touch with the Congress.
A BJP delegation led by Jharkhand deputy chief minister Raghuvar Das is likely to meet Governor M O H Farrooq at 11.30 am to hand over the letter of withdrawal of support to the JMM Government, Seth said.
Ahead of their meeting, former BJP president Rajnath Singh will hold discussions Arjun Munda, the Chief Ministerial candidate, and Das.
BJP parliamentary board had on April 28 decided to withdraw support to the JMM government after Soren voted against the party-sponsored cut motion against the UPA Government in Lok Sabha a day earlier.
However, the decision was put on hold when JMM Legislature party leader and Soren's son Hemant wrote a letter to BJP chief Nitin Gadkari pledging support to a BJP-led government.
But, the JMM backtracked and demanded rotational power sharing with each party leading the government for 28 months.
This was agreed to by BJP on the understanding that Soren will quit as Chief Minister by May 25 after which Munda will head the new coalition government.
As the deadline for his stepping down approached, Soren made it clear on Friday that there was not going to quit.
"The question of a change of government comes if there is no development. But now development is going on," he had told reporters.
On Saturday, the Chief Minister went a step further saying he was weighing all options, including cutting a deal with the Congress to continue in power.
The Congress is, however, adopting a wait and watch approach on the issue.
The BJP move is also being seen as a pressure tactic to force Soren to resign. BJP sources said that since the party's parliamentary board has already taken a decision to withdraw support, there was no need for it to meet again on the issue.
They also claimed Soren gave in writing that he would step down by May 25, but Hemant maintained that there was no written understanding.
In any case, Soren will have to step down in a month's time if he fails to get elected from any assembly seat since the six-month period to get elected from the day he assumed charge of the post ends in June. But Soren has also not ruled out contesting a bypoll to enter the house by June 30. Hemant, who made an offer to the BJP to head the government in the state, had said, "The party has to abide by whatever decision the president (Soren) has taken or will take."
Munda and Soren had on May 18 announced the agreement to share power on a rotational basis with the BJP to take over for the first 28 months.
The JMM and the BJP have 18 MLAs each and the Soren government has the support of two JDU legislators and five from the AJSU, besides two others in the 82-member Assembly. Congress has 14 MLAs and JVM has 11 MLAs besides RJD's 5 MLAs.
BJP's move also came on a day when Soren said he had a "pending offer for Central cabinet berth" and that he would consider it only when he felt like accepting the offer.
Soren was sworn-in as Chief Minister for the third time on December 30 last year.