Ranchi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday extended support to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) to form a new government in Jharkhand.
This was stated by BJP leader and former chief minister Arjun Munda according to news agency IANS.
The JMM, led by Shibu Soren, has sought an appointment with Governor K Shankarnarayan to stake claim to form the government.
The BJP on Saturday also elected Raghubar Das as its legislative party leader.
JMM Vice-President Hemlal Murmu on Friday claimed that the BJP and AJSU have agreed to support Soren.
In the 81-member Assembly, JMM and BJP have 18 MLAs each, while JD(U), an ally of BJP, has 2 MLAs and All Jharkhand Students Union five - adding to 43.
Two senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Anant Kumar attended the BJP legislature party meeting.
Congress has made it clear that it was not in a hurry to initiate talks for government formation in Jharkhand and would do so without any preconditions reported news agency PTI.
While Congress has 14 seats, its ally Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik has 11 MLAs.
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