Champai Soren to take oath as Jharkhand Chief Minister today, asked to prove majority in 10 days

Jharkhand news: Champai Soren will take oath as Jharkhand Chief Minister on Friday (February 2). Governor CP Radhakrishnan has asked him to prove the majority in 10 days after taking oath. On Thursday evening, Champai Soren met Governor where Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) claimed the support of around 43 MLAs. 

Jharkhand Governor on Thursday nominated JMM legislative party leader Champai Soren as chief minister and invited him to take the oath. The governor's Principal Secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni told media, “We have invited him to take the oath. Now they will decide when to take it.”

Earlier in the day, Champai Soren, heading a delegation of the JMM-led coalition, called on the governor and urged him to accept his claim to form the government at the earliest as there was confusion in the state. He told Radhakrishnan that the state which was without a chief minister since the resignation of Hemant Soren, deepening the political crisis.

JMM, Congress MLAs could not fly to Hyderabad due to low visibility at airport:

In what is seen as an unexpected turn of events, the flight carrying MLAs of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-Congress-RJD alliance to Hyderabad could not take off due to bad weather and low visibility conditions at Ranchi airport on Thursday night.

"We could not go because of poor visibility. We will fight against them (BJP)," Jharkhand Minister Banna Gupta told reporters as MLAs came out of Ranchi airport.

They (MLAs) were reportedly being shifted to Hyderabad amid uncertainty over the formation of government in Jharkhand. Speaking to reporters outside Ranchi airport earlier, Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur claimed that the alliance has enough numbers to form the government.

"We have enough numbers to form the government. All 43 MLAs are together, we have full confidence. We will keep meeting the Governor until he calls us to form the government," Thakur said.

Congress alleges BJP:

As the political atmosphere in the state grew tense on Thursday evening, Congress leaders did not leave a chance to criticise the BJP, and accused it of "crushing the mandate in every state."

"Immediately after the resignation of the coalition government in Bihar, the Governor had sent an invitation to form a new government. But the invitation to form a government was not sent even a day after staking claim in Jharkhand," Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said in a post on X.

ED seeks 10-day remand of former CM Hemant Soren:

The special PMLA court in Ranchi sent former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), to judicial custody for a day, lawyers said today (February 1). The ED sought 10 days remand for Soren. The court reserved its order for Friday (February 2).

The JMM executive president has been sent to judicial custody for a day, lawyers said.

Former CM arrest by ED:

Soren was arrested after a seven-hour grilling by the ED in a money laundering case on Wednesday (January 31).

Justice Dinesh Rai, the Special Judge of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court, reserved the order after hearing both sides. Soren was on Wednesday night arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) after six hours of questioning in the money laundering case linked to the alleged land scam.

According to the ED, CM Soren was questioned as a part of the probe into the huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia. The probe pertains to huge amounts of proceeds of crime generated by forging official records by showing fake sellers and purchasers in the guise of forged or bogus documents to acquire huge parcels of land valued in crores.

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