New Delhi, February 28
A day after the fractured mandate in Bihar and Jharkhand the numbers’ game has been set in motion in Jharkhand where both UPA and the NDA have staked their claim for the formation of the government. Neither combine has the requisite numerical strength of 42 but both sides claimed publicly that they would be able to reach the magic figure.

Persisting with its determination to keep the NDA out, the Congress today rushed Union Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi and former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi to Ranchi, ostensibly for the election of the CLP leader. However, their real brief is to ensure the installation of a UPA government. They have been given time till March 2 by the Governor to furnish the list of supporting MLAs and to name the leader of their alliance.

The situation in Bihar, however, is far more complex. Given the nature of the verdict, neither the UPA nor the NDA is in a position to form the government without the support of Mr Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). Mr Paswan, however, persisted with his pre-poll stance, stating that he will not support the BJP- headed NDA combine or Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

The RJD chief, on the other hand, insisted that his party along with the UPA allies and other Independents had sufficient numbers to prove its majority in the Assembly. He said his party would stake claim tomorrow.

Although the Congress is hoping to bring about a rapprochement between the two warring Union Ministers, its leaders maintain that this process will take some time. “We have to wait for the dust to settle... after all, both Mr Paswan and Mr Yadav took strident positions against each other in the election campaign,” remarked a senior Congress leader, adding that they could not change their stand overnight. A spell of President’s rule was not being ruled out as a last resort, though Congress sources said their first effort would be to form a secular government in Bihar.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will step in to resolve their differences, but not immediately, it appears. Senior party leaders, including her political secretary Ahmed Patel, will first do the groundwork by talking to the two leaders separately. The first step in this direction can be taken at the UPA coordination committee meeting, scheduled for tomorrow evening.

According to agencies, Mr Ram Bilas Paswan today wrote to Governor Buta Singh informing him that his party would not be a “part” of any exercise by the RJD or the BJP, to provide a new dispensation.

He also said that imposition of the President’s rule in Bihar should be the “last option” and that he would explore ways for installation of a government sans the RJD and the BJP, signalling the possibility of a post-poll alliance with the JD-U, if the latter broke away from the saffron party.

“President’s rule should be considered as the last option in case of failure of any combination to cobble together a majority to form the next government,” Mr Paswan said.

He said he had written to the Governor, informing him that the LJP would not be a “part” of any such exercise by the RJD or the BJP for government formation.

Governor Buta Singh said in Patna he would take a decision “without bias”.