Joba Manjhi arrives at the Assembly a trifle too late. Picture by Prashant Mitra

March 15: Poor floor management continued to haunt the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) today when an MLA supporting the alliance, Joba Manjhi, failed to turn up at the Assembly to cast her vote.

Nobody in the UPA appeared to have a clue about her whereabouts, not even her fellow legislator, Bandhu Tirkey, from the United Goans Democratic Party (UGDP) or, for that matter, the Assembly secretariat.

By the time she arrived, it was all over. Inder Singh Namdhari had taken the chair as the permanent Speaker and the Arjun Munda government had won the trust vote and the Assembly had been adjourned sine die.

Intense speculation forced Tirkey to speak to Nazm Ansari, a close friend of Manjhi, who also happens to be the convener of the UGDP in Jharkhand. Tirkey, thereafter, disappeared only to return 45 minutes later with Manjhi sitting with him in his Bolero.

The lady was reluctant to address the media but, finally, when she emerged from the lobby, she made the following statement. ?This morning I left Chakradharpur for Ranchi but my vehicle broke down on the outskirts of Khunti and I was stranded there.?

The unconvincing reply was sought to be supplemented by her statement that she was under the impression that the ?trust vote? would take place in the post-lunch session.

Tirkey and Congress member Pradeep Balmuchu did not take kindly to the reporters? question, how they could have returned from Khunti in such a short time. Although Khunti is just 30 km from the state capital, it takes almost an hour?s drive because of the relatively poor road conditions.

Several questions remain unanswered. Why did Manjhi have to visit her constituency, Manoharpur, before a crucial confidence vote? Why could he not reach Ranchi yesterday? Why did she fail to inform anyone here about her whereabouts and why was her cellphone switched off when Tirkey was trying to contact her from the Assembly?

What is even more intriguing is that the UGDP apparently did not issue any whip for the confidence vote. If a whip had been there, Manjhi could have been disqualified for her failure to turn up in the House.

While no satisfactory explanation is available, Ansari said Manjhi was indeed unhappy with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Shibu Soren. In an advertisement released yesterday, Soren listed several charges against the previous NDA government, one of which related to the sale in the open market of foodgrain meant for children. Manjhi was the minister in charge of child development in the NDA ministry and has apparently taken umbrage. Ansari also claimed that the JMM was Manjhi?s ?traditional rivals? in Manoharpur.

Incidentally, Ansari was appointed chairman of the state housing board by the previous NDA regime.