The two parties have decided to go their separate ways over the rotation of the Chief Minister's post.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha today announced that it was withdrawing support to the Arjun Munda-led Bharatiya Janata Party state government over differences on the rotation policy of the chief ministerial post.

The announcement of withdrawal of support was made by Deputy Chief Minister Hemant Soren, son of JMM chief Shibu Soren.

"The JMM chief will take the final decision in this regard. No communication has been given to Jharkhand Raj Bhavan till now. We will let you know when we will do that," Hemant Soren told reporters in Ranchi.

The pre-condition to this alliance was that both the parties will have their candidates as Chief Minister for 28-months each.

Reacting to the development, Congress in-charge for Jharkhand Shakeel Ahmed told IBN7, "This is an internal matter between the BJP and JMM. Congress has no role to play if the government does not fall formally."

Earlier in the day, BJP’s state unit spokesman Pradip Sinha said, "The chief minister met Guruji (as Soren is known), and discussed the prevailing political situation with him." The BJP’s in-charge of Jharkhand affairs Dharmendra Pradhan was also to meet Soren in the evening. The details are not known yet.

JMM had said on Sunday that it would take 'a big decision' on Monday after receiving a letter from the chief minister on 3 January rejecting the party’s demand for sharing power in rotation.

The state deputy chief minister had written the letter on 25 December listing the demands. The party’s general secretary Suprio Bhattacharya last night had said that the JMM’s decision would be announced at its executive committee meeting.

The other demands of the JMM were the chief minister’s stand on Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, domicile policy, status of nine regional and tribal languages, rehabilitation of those who took part in the Jharkhand movement and financial aid to madrasas.

The BJP is likely to hold its Core Committee meeting at 7:00pm.

Both JMM and BJP have 18 seats each in the Jharkhand assembly. The Congress has 13 seats in the assembly while Jharkhand Vikas Morcha has 11 seats.

With PTI input