Ranchi, Aug. 23: Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda resigned today, a week after JMM chief Shibu Soren withdrew support to his 23-month-old government.

The resignation comes two days before Koda was to face a trust vote.

Five of his ministerial colleagues — Independents Stephen Marandi, Harinarayan Rai, Joba Manjhi, Bhanu Pratap Sahi and Chandra Prakash Choudhary — also signed on the letter and accompanied him to Raj Bhavan.

Governor Syed Sibtey Razi has accepted Koda’s resignation and asked him to continue in a caretaker capacity till alternative arrangements could be made. He also called off Monday’s special session of the Assembly.

That Koda went to Raj Bhavan with five of his ministers suggests it will not be easy for Soren to win over the Independents to help him become chief minister.

“We have enough time in hand. Let us see what happens on Monday,” Soren said today.

But sources close to the JMM chief said he would begin calling the Independents immediately. “Guruji will be talking to the Independents. He will tell them that President’s rule followed by mid-term polls are not viable alternatives,” said his close aide Mithilesh Thakur.

So far, the RJD and the Congress have decided to support Soren. A group of RJD MLAs, Annapurna Devi, Uday Shankar Singh, Videsh Singh and Prakash Ram, left for New Delhi to join their colleagues for a strategy session with party chief Lalu Prasad.

Congress chief whip in the Assembly Neol Tirkey said a letter of support was being faxed to the governor tonight.

Even then, Soren would be short of the magic figure of 42 as Koda and his group of Independents haven’t committed support to him.

Earlier, Koda admitted having lost the majority in the Assembly, but remained non-committal on extending support to the JMM in its bid to form a new government.