A Rapid Action Force jawan salutes Governor M. Rama Jois in the absence of policemen, who are on strike, before the beginning of the budget session of the Assembly. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Ranchi, Feb. 27: A spirited man and an enthusiastic lady, both employees of the Assembly secretariat, saved the day for Jharkhand. Possibly for the first time ever, there were no uniformed men to play the National Anthem before and after the Governor’s customary address to the House on the commencement of its third budget session today.

The police band could not do the honours because policemen are on strike.

A CRPF officer stationed on the Assembly campus said had the authorities requested them, they could have requisitioned their band “But no such request came,” he said. So the two Assembly staffers had to stand before the Speaker’s podium and prompt everyone to break into Jana, Gana, Mana...

That was not the only bad news of the day which began amid an overbearing sense of political uncertainty duly escalated by a determined Opposition. Addressing the House for the first time, Governor M. Rama Jois began to listen to the protest made by Congress Legislature Party leader Furkan Ansari, who demanded that the NDA government, “reduced to a minority”, must seek a vote of confidence.

The Governor, however, soon recovered and started reading out the 24-page text amid vociferous protests of the Opposition and the thumping of the desk by members on the treasury benches.

The thumping was subdued because the five rebel ministers did not bang their palms on the desks though their BJP counterparts did so on numerous occasions. The Dissident Five, positioned at their allotted seats on the government benches, presented a stoic exterior.

The thumping, arguably, was not as much in response to the feel-good statements made by the Governor as a feeble attempt to counter the high decibels raised by the members on the other side. This, because whatever Jois read out was absolutely lost in the din. For all of 25 minutes that Jois spoke, the Opposition members were on their feet.

“Stop the address of the corrupt government”, “Killer government resign”, “Stop the address of the anti-democratic government” made the text of the slogans raised by the Opposition members, almost of whom, except the seven RJD legislators summoned by party chief Laloo Prasad Yadav amid rumours of defections, were present.

Before the session commenced, the rebel ministers — Madhu Singh, Lalchand Mahto, Bachcha Singh, Jaleshwar Mahto and Ramesh Singh Munda — arrived together and were immediately surrounded by a large number of reporters and photographers. “See we are united. The chief minister must go. We are firm in our resolve. The BJP has time till tonight to present an alternative to Babulal Marandi. After that we will take over and present our candidate,” Lalchand Mahto said, flanked by the other four.

A grim-looking Marandi arrived for the day before his usual time. He did not utter a word on the political crisis, though he said the government would not talk with the striking policemen unless they joined duty.