Friday, August 26 2005 17:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The dissident storm against Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda blew over today (Aug 26, 2005) with five 'disgruntled' Ministers agreeing to work under his leadership after senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajnath Singh brokered a deal.

The compromise was hammered out at a marathon three-hour meeting held at Singh's residence between the Chief Minister and the five Ministers, who had won as Independents and helped Munda form a coalition Government.

After the meeting, Singh told reporters in the presence of Munda and the Ministers that whatever 'misunderstanding' was there between them, had been removed and 'they are all fully satisfied'.

A prominent 'dissident' among the five Ministers, Sudesh Mahato, who is holding Home portfolio, said "There is no dispute now over the leadership issue as most of the differences have been resolved. The demand for change of leadership does not exist anymore."

Taking the patch-up in his stride, Munda said such differences do crop up in a 'big family'.

"But we have decided to work together for the development of Jharkhand," he said.

Mahato and Madhu Kora, another dissident Minister, said that it had been decided that all the issues would be discussed at the level of coordination committee under a common minimum programme.

Before their talks with Singh over lunch, the dissident ministers had a meeting with the Janata Dal (JD) United (U) Parliamentary Board Chairman Sharad Yadav to discuss the issue.

Munda heads a coalition government of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners BJP and JD (U), which hinges on the support of the five independent Ministers.

Today's meetings come on the heels of BJP deciding to form two coordination committees both at party and NDA level.

One of them would include the dissident ministers who had attacked the working style of Chief Minister Arjun Munda.

The compromise caps days of hectic political activity during which the disgruntled independent ministers discussed their grievances with Central leaders of BJP and JD (U).