New Delhi: Will the prize make up for the slight? That is the big question likely to decide the fate of Jharkhand, as the BJP's top brass weighs the option of a rethink on Shibu Soren to get its hands on that Chief Minister's chair.
The party's parliamentary board will meet today to discuss Shibu Soren's peace offer and take a call on whether to forgive his political back-stabbing.
And he is sorry. Really sorry. Shibu Soren sent two letters to the BJP on Thursday apologizing for betraying his ally by voting for the union government, and against the BJP's cut motion, twice in Parliament.
Later in the night, his son Hemant, who has been scurrying to keep his JMM's tenuous marriage with the BJP alive, said his party would support a new government in Jharkhand with the BJP leading the coalition. "Once the BJP decides, we will resign," said Junior Soren.
If the BJP leadership agrees to the offer, Arjun Munda will be a front runner for the Jharkhand Chief Minister's post.
Like any partner scorned, the BJP is keeping the Sorens guessing awhile. Through Thursday, the party said it wasn't interested in Soren's attempts to kiss and make up. But the party doth protest too much. In Jharkhand, its members cancelled three meetings with the Governor where they were meant to formally withdraw support to Soren's government in Jharkhand.
So what made Soren pull the plug on his own chief minister-ship?
His explanation, even by his own standards, was about as solid as a popsicle on a hot day. "It happened just like that," he said of his decision to vote against the BJP on Wednesday. And with that, he forced another crisis upon his home state of Jharkhand, whose various coalition governments have seen more divorces than Larry King. In the last ten years, seven governments have passed through Jharkhand.
In reality, Soren's action may have been a reaction to the politics within his own family. Soren is currently a Member of Parliament. But in order to stay on as chief minister (he took over in January 2010), he needs to be elected to the Jharkhand Assembly. But neither his son, nor other members of his Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) were willing to give up their own seats for Soren.
So Soren decided he'd ditch the BJP and propose to the Congress. If this new alliance were able to offer him a position at the Centre, his son could take over as chief minister.
But the Congress doesn't see Soren as a suitable boy. The union government is engaged in a critical and exhaustive operation against Naxal insurgents. Soren, whose own state forms a major power base for Naxals, is seen as being too soft on the Maoists. The Prime Minister is reportedly also wary of an alliance with Soren because of the slew of criminal cases Soren faces.
So on Wednesday night, Soren's son apologized publicly to the BJP. And then Soren chipped in on Thursday. But for very different reasons. Soren Senior has offered the chief minister's post to the BJP if they agree to replace him with a tribal leader. Soren Junior, however, is still uneasy with his father's reckless vote against the BJP in parliament. And there is the very real possibility of the JMM splitting over who to tie up with. Senior leaders Teklal Mahto and Simon Marandi want to go with the UPA.