I want to be king, not kingmaker: Shibu Soren
December 24th, 2009 - 2:05 pm ICT by IANSRanchi, Dec 24 (IANS) As speculation mounted over who would be the next Jharkhand chief minister, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren clarified Thursday that he wanted to be king, not kingmaker, and that no party was an “untouchable”.
Keeping all his options open, Soren, who with 18 seats in the 81-member assembly is key to forming the next government, said triumphantly that “everything” depended on him.
“I do not want to be kingmaker, I want to be king. It’s not important now what Arjun Munda (of the BJP) and Babulal Marandi (of the JVM-P) are stating. Now everything depends on me,” Soren told reporters in Bokaro, a day after the assembly elections threw up a badly fractured verdict.
Both Munda and Marandi are former chief ministers.
Asked if would accept a central cabinet berth, as some Congress leaders had suggested, in lieu of the chief minister’s post, he said categorically that there “was no such possibility”.
“My role is important for a stable and corruption free government in Jharkhand.”
Soren also made it clear that he could go any which way.
“No political party is untouchable for me. I can go with anyone who is ready to give a strong and stable government to boost development in the state as well as a corruption free government.”
“I am the key person in formation of the state government. It is now time to teach some lessons to the opportunists who several times ditched me, which resulted in unstable and corrupt governments.”
While the BJP and the JD-U got 20 seats, the Congress-JVM-P alliance got 25 seats.
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- Marandi seeking Maoist help to win Jamshedpur by-poll: Munda - Jun 30, 2011
- Police complaint against Jharkhand BJP president - Jul 02, 2011
- 'Kingmaker' Soren watches TV in Bokaro - Dec 23, 2009
- Marandi fasts in support of Anna - Aug 23, 2011
- BJP refutes JMM's power rotation claim - Jul 09, 2011
- Congress, JVM-P mull government formation without JMM - Dec 25, 2009
- BJP to back JMM candidates if it joins NDA - Apr 16, 2012
- BJP withdraws support, Soren given week to prove majority (Roundup) - May 24, 2010
- Shibu Soren open to supporting NDA or UPA for Jharkhand - Dec 22, 2009
- Opposition to field common candidate against Munda in by-poll - Jan 21, 2011
- JMM eyes Jameshedpur Lok Sabha seat after Munda victory - Feb 18, 2011
- Munda appeals to Marandi to end hunger strike - May 05, 2011
- Marandi's party to stay away from Rajya Sabha poll - Apr 23, 2012
Tags: assembly elections, berth, bjp, chief minister, chief ministers, congress leaders, corrupt governments, corruption, dec 24, free government, jd, kingmaker, marandi, member assembly, munda, opportunists, ranchi, shibu soren, stable government, state government