"Shameful...": Mallikarjun Kharge on political turmoil in Jharkhand

New Delhi [India], February 2 : Tearing into the BJP in the Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday got the ball rolling by pointing out the delay of the oath-taking of JMM leader Champai Soren and questioned why Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar took the oath and became the Chief Minister of Bihar in less than 12 hours of resigning.
Earlier on Sunday, Nitish Kumar resigned and also took the oath as Chief Minister of Bihar for the ninth time in Raj Bhawan, Patna, switching sides again, this time with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
"Nitish Kumarji gave his resignation with one hand and, with the other, took his oath within 12 hours. Why wasn't this done? Why wasn't this done in Jharkhand? The Constitution is being flouted. This is shameful," Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said, raking up the recent political turmoil in Bihar and Jharkhand.
Earlier today, buses carrying Jharkhand JMM and Congress MLAs arrived at a resort in Hyderabad, Telangana.
MLAs may return on February 4 and will be lodged in the circuit house once again. They will go for floor tests directly from the circuit house.
Hemant Soren will also go to the Assembly after seeking permission from the court.
Amidst the political unrest in Jharkhand, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Congress MLAs, including Banna Gupta and others, boarded a private aircraft to Hyderabad from Ranchi airport.
Earlier, Champai Soren, a leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha party, took oath as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand at the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi.
Alongside Soren, Congress' Alamgir Alam and RJD's Satyanand Bhokta also took the oath as a ministers in the Jharkhand cabinet.
After the swearing-in, several legislators left for Hyderabad ahead of the floor test in the assembly. This is an effort by the alliance to protect its flock.
In the 81-member Jharkhand assembly, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has 29, its ally the Congress has 17 seats while the RJD and the CPI (ML) have 1 seat each. With the support of 43 MLAs, the INDIA bloc has the numbers to sail through a floor test.
On the opposition bench, the Bharatiya Janata Party has 26 seats, AJSU 3 while Independents and others have 3 MLAs. 1 seat in the assembly is vacant.
On Thursday, Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan invited Champai Soren to Raj Bhavan to form the government in the state. Champai Soren, a loyalist of JMM leader Hemant Soren, has been mandated to demonstrate his majority in a floor test, which will be held within the next 10 days.
Champai Soren, along with 43 legislators had met Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan at Raj Bhavan, staking a claim to form the government in the state.