'Jhukega nahi': JMM's cryptic post amid buzz of imminent power shift in Jharkhand

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's JMM was reported to be in talks with the BJP for a possible alliance in Jharkhand. (File: PTI)

Chief Minister Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on Tuesday put out a cryptic message through its social media handle amid growing speculation of the ruling party contemplating a dramatic power shift in the state over the past few days.

As per reports, the JMM was actively considering an alliance with the BJP, its most fierce rival in the state. The reports further claimed that CM Soren and his MLA wife Kalpana Soren recently visited Delhi and held talks with a top BJP leader in this regard.

"Jharkhand jhukega nahi (Jharkhand will not bow down)," the JMM said in a post on its X handle Tuesday evening.

झारखंड झुकेगा नहीं।

— Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (@JmmJharkhand) December 2, 2025

While the post itself did not make it immediately clear whether it was a message to its INDIA bloc partners regarding the snub during Bihar elections, or directed at the BJP whom it has repeatedly accused of misusing central probe agencies for political gains, remarks by some leaders provided some perspective to the prevailing political atmosphere in the state.

JMM leader Vinod Pandey, who serves as the general secretary of the party's central committee, said the CM's visit to Delhi was in his personal capacity, that the BJP was in the habit of hatching conspiracies and this time was no different.

"The people of the state are watching and have understood everything. The BJP should desist from insulting the people's mandate and instead focus on positive politics," Panedy said.

The state BJP also dismissed the ongoing speculations and said the BJP and RSS could never be on the same side. "BJP and JMM are two opposite shores of the ocean. They can never meet. The JMM-led government only believes in the politics of appeasement. There is no possibility of the two parties coming together even in the future," BJP's Jharkhand unit spokesperson Pratul Shahdev said.

While the leaders publicly maintain that there was no truth in the buzz over alliance talks between the JMM and BJP, the timing of Hemant Soren and Kalpana's recently concluded visit to the national capital -- that came soon after the NDA's emphatic victory in neighbouring Bihar -- did add fuel to the fire.

The Bihar elections also saw increasing acrimony between the JMM and its INDIA bloc partners RJD and Congress after it was denied a single seat to contest. Notably, the JMM had set aside a few seats for the RJD to contest during the Assembly elections in Jharkhand last year.

What further added to the buzz of an imminent change in government was the meeting between Jharkhand Governor Santosh Gangwar and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the national capital on Tuesday that many saw as a necessary procedural prelude to a possible power shift.

In the 82-member Assembly elected last November, the JMM holds 34 seats, while the BJP has 21. An alliance between the two, along with the LJP's one MLA, AJSU's one and the JD(U)'s one, would take the tally to 58 seats which is well above the majority mark of 41.

Media reports had also indicated that at least eight of the Congress' 16 MLAs could switch sides to join the JMM-BJP dispensation. At least 11 MLAs from the Congress would have to switch sides in order to escape the provisions of the anti-defection law. A final decision would, however, rest with the Assembly Speaker.