Ranchi, May 30 (IANS) Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren stepped down from his post late Sunday, a day before he was to prove his majority in the state assembly.

Soren, who heads the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), met state Governor M.O.H. Farookh and submitted his resignation Sunday evening.

A JMM source said the party leaders met for the second time in the day at 6 p.m. to chalk out a strategy. Sources said that eight of the JMM’s 18 legislators refused to face the trust vote Monday.

‘There was no other option left…(for Soren but to resign)’, a JMM legislator said on the condition of anonymity.

The JMM-led government was reduced to minority after the party’s ally the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finally withdrew support May 24 after 10 days of dilly-dallying.