Picture this. Ever since the fall of the BJP-led government in the State on January 8, all political parties except the Congress, have been vigorously campaigning for the dissolution of the Assembly. The JMM is the last to join the chorus but none of the parties, irrespective of their size or dominance in the State, has the courage to ask its MlAs to come forward and resign for the sake of "securing democratic rights" of the people.
The Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, which claims to be the first party to raise the demand for dissolution of State Assembly, is gearing up to meet the President. JVM chief Babulal Marandi will meet President Pranab Mukherjee on June 17 to request him for dissolution of the Assembly given the fact that there was "absolutely no possibility" of formation of an alternative Government in the State.
However, the party doesn't deem it necessary to take the 'extreme' step of mass resignation of its MlAs to prove that they mean what they are demanding. "We do not have any qualms about resignation but this will not serve our purpose. On the contrary, it will encourage unethical politics in the State," said JVM legislature party leader Pradeep Yadav.
"We have 81 elected MlAs in the House and if some MlAs resign the figure for formation of a government will come down. We don't want this to happen. Power hungry parties like the Congress and the BJP can go down to any levels. Even the BJP wants to form a government and is trying to lure MlAs of other parties," Yadav said.
The AJSU party with six MlAs in the House has also demanded Assembly dissolution but the party leaders feel it's unwise to take any such step. "We have to work according to the legal framework. We cannot go beyond this just for putting pressure on the Raj Bhawan, which has turned so insensitive that it doesn't take into consideration people's interests," said AJSU party spokesperson Deosharan Bhagat.
Interestingly, Bhagat hinted that MlAs themselves would not be too keen to take such step because of 'personal' reasons. "Everyone (MlAs) wants their salaries, emoluments and other facilities to be continued. Ultimately, they have to contest elections and prepare for it as well," he said.
The State BJP too plans to meet the President for dissolution of Assembly but has no plans to ask its MlAs to resign. State BJP president Ravindra Rai recently said the party would not like to give others (Congress and JMM) a chance to take advantage of such a situation.
"We want dissolution of the Assembly immediately and announcement of mid-term polls. Resigning of MlAs will not serve the purpose as the lowered number of MlAs in the House will provide Congress and other opportunist parties a chance to form an alternative government. We do not want to take such risk," Rai said.
Meanwhile, party insiders confided that the "dissolve assembly" rhetoric by almost all parties was merely a gimmick to present a pro-democracy posture in front of the people as no MlA was ready to lose pay and perks along with security cover and social recognition.