The Champai Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-Congress coalition government won the floor test in the Jharkhand assembly on Monday.
The ruling alliance got 47 votes including that of a nominated member in the 81-member House.
The opposition BJP-led NDA alliance received 29 votes.
The floor test was necessitated after the new government under Champai Soren was sworn-in just months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and the assembly elections.
During the floor test debate, the chief minister accused the BJP of using central agencies to frame his predecessor Hemant Soren.
‘BJP tried to destabilize a democratically elected Jharkhand government,’ CM Soren said.
Mr Soren was sworn in after former CM Hemant Soren resigned from the top job, before being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate last week, in an alleged corruption scandal.
Soren’s JMM-led alliance, which had sequestered its MLAs in a resort in Hyderabad to prevent poaching, brought back its leaders to Ranchi on Sunday evening, with the BJP referring to the developments as a ‘lack of confidence.’
The new government was formed amid allegations of deliberate delay by the governor.
Mr Soren claimed the support of 43 MLAs in the 81-member Jharkhand assembly, to form the new administration. The BJP-led NDA has 29 MLAs in the assembly, including AJSU’s three.
Some MLAs are reported to have not signed the support letter, when Mr Soren approached the Governor, thought they are still with the coalition.
According to reports, some of the JMM MLAs, who did not support Champai Soren, may not participate in the floor test.
Hemant Soren attended the floor test after a special court in Ranchi permitted his release from ED custody on Saturday.
While addressing the assembly, Soren accused the Jharkhand governor CP Radhakrishnan of being involved in his arrest.
‘On the night of January 31, for the first time in the country, a CM was arrested…and I believe that Raj Bhavan was also involved in this incident,’ he had said ahead of the floor test.
‘Tribals and Dalits are not safe under the present regime in the country… I will come back with more strength. Opposition’s conspiracy will be thwarted,’ Soren said during his speech in the House.
Soren is currently in five-day custody of the ED which is probing a money laundering case against him.
Earlier, upon arrival in Ranchi, the JMM-coalition MLAs had exuded confidence to win the trust vote, claiming that they had the support of 48 to 50 legislators. JMM lawmaker Mithilesh Thakur claimed that some of the BJP MLAs are also in support of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in the state.
Chief whip of the BJP, Biranchi Narain claimed however that the JMM-led coalition was set to lose the vote of confidence.
‘The MLAs in Hyderabad were kept under strict surveillance, which indicates that they were not confident of winning,’ he said.
One of the MLAs on Sunday criticized the move to take the MLAs at a lavish resort in Hyderabad. The MLAs were present there for the past three days, flown in two flights, amid what many observers said was the coalition’s fear that the BJP might attempt to ‘poach’ them in the run-up to the trust vote.
This article has been updated.
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