lone Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MlA in Jharkhand and legislator from Hussainabad Kushwaha Shivpujan Mehta has been offered a Cabinet berth in the Raghubar Das Ministry provided he jettisons the Mayawati headed outfit.
Mehta, in a kind of quid pro quo, is looking absolutely ready to debunk the BSP for the sake of ministerial position that would take Cabinet's strength to desired 12 in the State.
In an exclusive conversation with The Pioneer on Friday, Mehta stressed that the arrangement was keeping in mind caste equation in the poll bound Bihar. "We have had discussions in the beginning itself. I was told to merge the Jharkhand unit of my party into the BJP and get the Cabinet berth in return. later, it was kept for approaching Bihar elections where koiri-kurmi voters are in considerable number. I am ready to leave the party (BSP). There is no problem in it," revealed Mehta who thinks the time has come and is eagerly waiting for a call.
The MlA thinks his entry into the BJP would impact its performance in Bihar where it is up against Nitish Kumar's JD-U; predominantly a claimant of the OBC sub-caste votes.
Interestingly, it was Mehta who against all speculations had sprung a surprise and voted for BJP Rajya Sabha nominee MJ Akbar on July 2. Another unexpected support came from Geeta Koda, wife of battling former Chief Minister Madhu Koda.
When asked about his support for Akbar, Mehta justified it saying, "No one from the Opposition sought my vote for Haji Hussain Ansari (JMM's candidate). In any case MJ Akbar was going to clinch the battle easily, so I voted for him in the Rajya Sabha."
Moreover, Mehta is not sure about his entry into the party and subsequently into the Cabinet which he said, could make him invincible in his constituency. "There is a lobby of Rajput leaders who are working against my entry into the Cabinet. The lobby is quite close to Rajendra Singh (organisational general secretary of the BJP). Rajendra Singh is not much interested in me," adds the first-time MlA who is said to have secured the seat on his own without much contribution and vote bank of the BSP, predominantly an Uttar Pradesh party. The disclosure has come close on the heels when some movement has taken place in order to fill the single vacant position in the Cabinet. While the Opposition is reading message between the lines behind keeping the seat open and has termed it a strategic move aimed to swell the NDA in Jharkhand further.
Inputs from the BJP also suggest that the delay would keep many outsiders engaged and interested and in the process would add more roots to the Government. "There are too many contenders within the party and choosing one may open the Pandora Box. Instead, the CM would like to induct someone away from the BJP that would also please party bosses in the name of expanding NDA," said a party leader. In the beginning itself, six JVM legislators had joined the saffron party taking it to majority of its own.
Meanwhile, Opposition leader and Congress' Rajya Sabha MP Dheeraj Sahu and Pradeep Balmuchu have approached the Jharkhand High Court seeking court's direction to meet the vacancy. The step is likely to add pressure on the Government to come out with a name.
"Our major contention would be before the court the administrative lacuna the Government is facing by keeping the Cabinet below strength. The provision in Article 164-(1A) is for maximum number but how it is justified when it is hampering administrationIJ The Chief Minister is holding over 20 Departments and it is easy to understand how efficiently he would have been handling those," said advocate Rajeev Kumar.
After 91st amendment, the Article 164-(1A) reads that total number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the Council of Ministers in a State shall not exceed fifteen per cent of the total number of members of the legislative Assembly of that State provided that the number of Ministers, including Chief Minister in a State shall not be less than twelve.