In a damage control exercise, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren is said to have agreed to offer late Sudhir Mahto’s widow Savita Mahto post of chairperson in a board/corporation.

The cancellation of the ticket for a Rajya Sabha seat offered to Savita in the last minute under pressure of RJD’s lalu Prasad and the Congress central leadership has put the JMM on the boil with at least three MlAs — Mathura Mahto, Jagannath Mahto and Vidyut Baran Mahto — sending their resignation from the Assembly to Guruji.

Top sources in the Government confirmed that Hemant Soren has been updated in this regard and soon a decision would be taken after clearing some formalities. “The matter has been discussed and he (CM) has agreed for a post for her,” said an official.

Confirming the development Minister in the Hemant Soren Cabinet Jai Prakash Bhai Patel told The Pioneer, “Sudhir Mahto was not just a party leader but like a family member of the JMM. The party had decided to send Savita Mahto to the Rajya Sabha but under the coalition dharma and to avoid imposition of President’s Rule in the State we had to backtrack. I have talked to the CM on Wednesday about this and in the presence of Rajendra Singh and Annapurna Devi he has given his consent to appoint her as head of a Board or Corporation with immediate effect.”

The party had made Savita as nominee for the Upper House but forced to eat crow on the last day of filing nominations as Congress backed RJD’s Premchand Gupta just to stop the JMM’s candidate. In the process, Congress even abandoned Alamgir Alam who had already purchased nomination papers on PCC president Sukhdeo Bhagat’s behest.