Chief Minister of Jharkhand Arjun Munda Resigned and Recommended dissolution of State Assembly

The Arjun Munda Ministry in Jharkhand on 8 January 2013 resigned and recommended dissolution of the two-year-old Assembly to the governor in Ranchi.

The decision of his resignation came after his coalition partner, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), decided to withdraw its support from the 28-month-long BJP-led coalition government.

Arjun Munda called an emergency meeting and notified Governor Syed Ahmed of the cabinet decision just an hour before JMM chief Shibu Soren met the governor with his 18 MLAs, and handed over a formal letter of withdrawal of support.

Now, it is Governor Syed Ahmed who has to decide whether to invite another possible coalition to form the government, after being convinced that it will have the strength to prove its majority on the floor of the Assembly, or heed Munda’s recommendation to dissolve the assembly to pave the way for elections.

The BJP and the JMM have 18 MLAs each in the 82-member Assembly. The outgoing Munda government had the support of 47 MLAs.

Though the JMM has walked out of the coalition, the BJP still enjoys the support of six members of the AJSU, two of the Janata Dal (United), two independents and one nominated member who has voting right in a trial of strength.