Accusing BJP of 'complete imagination', Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren on Tuesday dismissed speculations of his wife Kalpana Soren contesting elections in the state. The speculations were triggered by the Enforcement Directorate's recent summons to the chief minister coupled with the sudden resignation by the ruling JMM's Gandey MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad on Monday. "Possibility of my wife contesting in the near future is a complete imagination of the BJP...The speculation about handing over reins to her is a fabric woven by the BJP to build a false narrative," the chief minister said.
Earlier, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey claimed that Soren will resign and his wife Kalpana Soren is set to replace him. The big claim by the BJP leader came in the context of legal troubles mounting against Soren in a money laundering case.
The opposition BJP has claimed that Ahmad was made to quit so that the chief minister's wife Kalpana Soren could contest from the Gandey seat in case of any eventuality in connection with the ED summonses. Soren has been in the eye of a political storm after the ED summonses in an alleged corruption case involving an office of profit case. Besides, the Election Commission had sent a letter to the then governor of Jharkhand Ramesh Bais in August 2022 which is believed to have recommended his disqualification as an MLA as a mining lease given to him was renewed during his tenure as the state’s chief minister.
However, neither Bais nor his successor CP Radhakrishnan opened that letter. According to a close aide of the chief minister, making the Gandey seat vacant is a “masterstroke”. Elaborating, he said that there are chances that the governor would open the letter during the ED’s questioning of Soren and give the mandatory permission to the agency to act against the chief minister.
If Soren has to relinquish his membership in the assembly, he can continue as the CM for six months without being elected. After that period is over, the provision for holding a by-election will not exist as Assembly polls are due in November-December. So, effectively Soren will continue as the chief minister till the next assembly elections, he said.
In case Soren decides to contest the by-poll, he would do it from Gandey and not his present constituency Barhati as that would send a “wrong signal” to the people, he said. "Without any armour, he (Soren) would have been trapped. The CM wants to give a message that you (central agencies) do whatever you want to do but I am ready," Soren’s close associate said.
Meanwhile, sources in the Chief Minister's Office told PTI that the timeline for reply to the fresh summons by the ED to Soren will end on January 5. The ruling JMM-led coalition has convened a meeting of its legislators here on Wednesday to discuss the present political scenario in the backdrop of the ED's summons to Soren as well as to chalk out a strategy.
In its latest summons to Soren, the ED has asked him to inform the investigating officer about the date, venue, and time of his choice so that his statement could be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Soren has skipped six earlier summonses by ED accusing the BJP-led union government of using central agencies to destabilise his democratically elected government. The seventh summons was issued last month.
He had filed petitions before the Supreme Court and Jharkhand High Court seeking protection from ED's actions, terming the summonses "unwarranted". Both courts dismissed his petitions. The CMO has sent a letter to the ED in which he is believed to have accused the agency of selectively leaking information to the media.
Meanwhile, BJP state president Babulal Marandi has said that a delegation will meet Governor C P Radhakrishnan and urge him to seek suggestions from legal experts and the attorney general in case the Hemant Soren government proposes to anoint the chief minister's wife as his successor. The ED has arrested 14 people in the mining lease case, including IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan, who had previously served as the director of the state social welfare department and the deputy commissioner of Ranchi.
(With inputs from PTI)
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