Ranchi, Jan 17: Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda today faced a revolt by his science and technology minister, Samresh Singh, who demanded the former's ouster by January 31 and threatened a repeat of last year's circumstances leading to Chief Minister Babulal Marandi's removal. ''Now it seems Marandi was better than Munda. Under Munda's leadership the BJP will be in great difficulty even to win four/five seats in the Lok Sabha elections,'' Singh, who is the lone minister from the Jharkhand Vananchal Congress in the state's NDA alliance, told a press conference here.

Threatening to drop a bombshell on February 2, he said, ''Anything can happen after January 31. Other ministers may follow me. But I would not reveal anything right now,'' the minister said when asked if he had support from any other quarter, particularly in the BJP.

Ruling out his resignation if the BJP failed to replace Munda by the deadline, the minister said that there were two choices before the BJP -- replace Munda or dissolve the assembly.

Asked if he had failed to appreciate Marandi's calibre when he joined the rebels in the oust-Marandi campaign, Singh, who was one of the seven ministers to have crossed floor on March 13, last year, said, ''The situation then was different. The events unfolded keeping the Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari as the chief ministerial candidate. We did not know that Arjun Munda would show up. ''
Bureau Report