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Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren today easily passed the floor test with a comfortable margin of six votes. The ruling coalition secured the support of 47 MLAs in the 81-member House. 

 

The JMM-Congress-RJD combine has at present 47 MLAs in the Assembly while, the BJP has 26 MLAs, AJSU Party 3 MLAs, one NCP, one nominated member and two independent legislators in the House.

 

There were 29 votes against the ruling coalition. Speaker Rabindranath Mahto and independent MLA Saryu Roy did not cast their vote, while two MLAs could not reach the Assembly due to health reasons.

 

The newly formed Champai Soren government was given 10 days’ time to prove its majority on the floor of the House. However, it passed the floor test in four days of government formation.

 

Former Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a land scam case and is in remand of the agency, was brought to the State Assembly to participate in the floor test on the PMLA court’s order.

 

At the start of the special session, Governor CP Radhakrishnan delivered his speech in the House and counted the government's achievements.

 

Both the ruling party and opposition MLAs argued on the trust vote, where CM Champai Soren and former CM Hemant Soren attacked the Centre for conspiring against a democratically elected government. Hemant Soren even alleged that the Governor House had a role in his arrest.  

 

Earlier, 37 MLAs of the ruling coalition, who were sent to Hyderabad to avoid poaching efforts returned on Sunday evening. 

 

They were kept in the circuit house for the night before being brought to the Assembly by buses. The MLAs were ‘released’ only after the ruling combine passed the floor test in the House.

 

Trust Vote was necessitated after former CM Hemant Soren was arrested by ED on January 31 on charges of money laundering in the sale purchase of a prime land piece in the Capital City.

 

After the arrest of Hemant Soren, Champai Soren took oath as the new Chief Minister and two ministers of Congress and RJD quota were also sworn in. The Governor had given 10 days’ time to the coalition to prove its majority on the floor of the House.