Former Union coal minister Shibu Soren on Friday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked him to resign while assuring him of his continued support.

Also Read Soren has eyes set on Jharkhand assembly

Talking to reporters in Ranchi, where Soren appeared in public for the first time after remaining in hiding for nearly a fortnight, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief said the prime minister "is a nice person."

Soren went into hiding immediately after an arrest warrant was issued against him on July 17 in the Chirrudih massacre case of 1975. On July 24 he resigned from the Cabinet.

The Jharkhand high court has now asked Soren to surrender before the sub-divisional judicial magistrate in Jamtara before August 2.    

Soren said he would have resigned much earlier, but he wanted to stop the repeat of a Gujarat-like situation in Jharkhand. He did not elaborate.

"The JMM-Congress-RJD-Left combination, which fought the Lok Sabha election and won 13 of the 14 seats, will be a force to reckon with in the upcoming assembly election," Soren said. "The combination will wipe out the BJP," he added.