The continuation of Shibu Soren as chief minister of Jharkhand looked untenable on Thursday as pressure from the UPA leadership built up against him to step down after the JMM supremo suffered a nasty defeat in the by-election from Tamar assembly constituency for which results were declared on afternoon.
Soren?s bid to enter the state assembly got a jolt when Gopal Krishna Patar of the Jharkhand Party defeated him by about 8,000 votes. The JMM leader, who assumed charge on August 27 after Madhu Koda was forced to resign, was required to be elected to the assembly within six months which was to end on February 27 next.
Soren will be reaching here on Friday to hold talks with the UPA leadership, but there appeared to be little support in favour of his continuation in political circles here. The demand for Soren?s resignation, in fact, was raised immediately by the NCP once his defeat became known.