Soren is all set to become the next chief minister of Jharkhand with the support of the BJP and its partner JD(U), as well as All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU).
As per the power sharing formula, which was negotiated by Gadkari’s predecessor Rajnath Singh and party general secretary Ananth Kumar, the BJP gets deputy chief ministership and three cabinet berths as well as the post of the Speaker.
But the pact needed the stamp of approval, even if just as a formality, from Gadkari, and Soren made it a point to reach Mumbai to meet the new BJP boss before his own elevation as the next chief minister.
Both Gadkari and Soren embraced each other and posed for photographs in the BJP state headquarters in South Mumbai.
They addressed a joint press conference, finding virtues in one another on the eve of forming the coalition government.
“Jharkhand needs a stable government and we are confident of providing one,” Soren said, as the smiling Gadkari watched his own sudden elevation in national politics.
Soren lost no time in praising Gadkari and his Mumbai-Pune expressway as well as other road projects in Maharashtra during the BJP-Shiv Sena rule between 1995 and 1999. He said he was aware of the functioning style of Gadkari and was confident that the new coalition will work well.
“While Jharkhand is a mineral-rich state, the people there are poor. It is a paradox...a stable government can help improve the situation,” Soren said.
On his part, Gadkari said all the alliance partners will evolve a common programme for governance in Jharkhand.
Only a fortnight back, his party was spewing fire at Soren for his tainted history and criminal cases against him, including a murder case, but on Monday, Gadkari found him completely innocent.
For him, the stability and interests of the people of the state were the only concerns.
Before the meeting, Gadkari also called on Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray at the latter’s residence ‘Matoshri’ in Bandra suburb. Both had a talk for about 15 minutes.
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