Rajya Sabha approves President`s rule in Jharkhand

Shinde extolled PM`s skills in running a coalition govt as Rajya Sabha approved a resolution approving proclamation of Prez rule in Jharkhand.

New Delhi: Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde Tuesday extolled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh`s skills in running a coalition government as Rajya Sabha approved a resolution approving proclamation of president`s rule in Jharkhand.

Shinde, who moved the resolution, said there was perception that small states will see good governments but Jharkhand had not seen very stable governments. He denied suggestions that the decision to keep the state assembly under animated suspension during the president`s rule was motivated by political considerations. Shinde said a government was formed in the state in 2010 which had Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) as major partners with the former`s Arjun Munda heading it. The minister said Governor Syed Ahmed had waited for a few days to explore the possibility of formation of an alternative government after the JMM withdrew its support to the Munda government last month. He said running a coalition government was difficult task and the way Manmohan Singh was running coalition government of United Progressive Alliance was an example. "Difficulty crops up in five-five minutes (in coalition government)," he said. Shinde said the government will keep paying attention to development needs of Jharkhand. Participating in the debate, D. Bandyopadhyay of Trinamool Congress said the state should have an elected government at the earliest. JMM member Sanjiv Kumar said tribals in Jharkhand were poor and some of them came to work as labourers in cities. He said the state had not been able to derive benefit of its enormous mineral wealth. He said Jharkhand had been saddled with financial liability towards Bihar as a different formula for division of assets had been followed. Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar during the rule of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal members blamed the BJP for political instability in the state. BJP member Jai Prakash Narayan Singh, however, said the state had seen cases of corruption during the rule of non-NDA parties. The proclamation was issued by President Pranab Mukherjee Jan 18. IANS