Opposition walks out of Rajya Sabha to protest Jharkhand drama

The Congress and other opposition parties on Friday walked out of the Rajya Sabha over the Jharkhand governor’s refusal to put in another government after JMM leader Hemant Soren resigned as chief minister.

Leader of the Opposition Mallikharjun Kharge drew parallels with the happenings in neighbouring Bihar just a week back when Nitish Kumar had resigned as chief minister.

Bihar, Jharkhand

Nitish Kumar’s resignation was immediately accepted and he was asked to continue till a new government is formed, all in a matter of 12 hours, the Congress leader pointed out.

But in Jharkhand, when Soren resigned on Wednesday just before his arrest, no interim arrangement was made, he said.

JMM support

After Soren's resignation, the name of his successor with signatures of 43 supporting MLAs in an 81-member Assembly was given to the governor, Kharge said.

Four other MLAs who were supporting such a transfer were outside the state and could not give their signatures.

Kharge’s charge

"He (Governor CP Radhakrishnan) did not make any arrangement (after Soren resigned)," he said.

The constitution provides for a government to be in place in the event of a resignation of a chief minister and the governor makes interim arrangements, Kharge said.

The governor calls on the party showing support of majority MLAs to form government and seeks a vote of confidence, he said.

BJP protests

The Congress leader said after nearly 20 hours, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's new leader, Champai Soren, got an invite to meet the governor and it was only on Friday that he was taking oath, he said.

"Why did such a thing (what happened in Bihar) not happen in Jharkhand?" Kharge asked. "This is shameful," he said.

The treasury benches protested against Kharge's statement.

Goyal’s charge

Leader of the House and Union Minister Piyush Goyal said Jharkhand had witnessed a huge land scam leading to Soren's resignation.

"Despite this, the Congress is defending that chief minister… This only re-establishes that corruption is in the DNA of the Congress," he said.

Goyal said the conduct of the governor cannot be discussed in the House.

BRS argues

However, the Congress and other opposition parties walked out of the House.

K Keshava Rao of the BRS said that the constitution says there has to be a government at all times.

"A government has to be headed by a chief minister, whether the chief minister is that man or this man, we are not bothered," he said.

Nirmala’s view

The treasury benches raised the issue of a purported statement by DK Suresh, Congress MP and brother of Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, that proposed the idea of separate nationhood for southern states as they were not getting their dues because of taxes being collected from them being distributed in the north.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while the Congress opposed the discussion on Suresh's statement on technical grounds, it was raising the issue of governor. "The walkout is in favour of corruption," she said.

(With agency inputs)