The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on Sunday withdrew support to the 23-month-old Madhu Koda-led coalition government in Jharkhand in an apparent bid to explore the possibility of making its supremo Shibu Soren the chief minister with the support of Independents.

Soren handed over the letter of withdrawal of support to Governor Syed Sibtey Razi. He was accompanied to the Raj Bhavan by three other JMM MPs and all 17 MLAs of the party.

The decision to withdraw support to the state government came after marathon day-long deliberations the party had in Ranchi.

Three of the JMM ministers -- Deputy Chief Minister Sudhir Mahto, Agriculture Minister Nalin Soren and Revenue Minister Dulal Bhuyan -- also handed over their resignation letters to Razi.

JMM has 17 Members of Legislative Assembly in the 81-member House. The withdrawal will reduce the Koda government to a minority which is surviving on the support of 17 JMM MLAs, 9 Congress MLAs -- including the Speaker -- 7 Rashtriya Janata Dal MLAs and Independent and rebels MLAs from different parties.

In 2005, Soren's attempt to become the chief minister failed after he could not muster a majority on the floor of the house a week after he was sworn-in.