'Missing' Hemant Soren Held Meeting In Ranchi; His Wife Kalpana To Step In As Chief Minister: Report (image: twitter.com/HemantSorenJMM/)
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who has been declared “missing” by the BJP appeared in Ranchi and had held a meeting with ruling alliance MLAs. In the meeting that took place on Tuesday afternoon, it discussed the current political situation in Jharkhand. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led ruling government in the state comprise of alliance partners, Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
Hemant Soren will be questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday in connection with the alleged money laundering case. Sources in the party told NDTV that if federal agency arrests Hemant Soren after recording his statements, his wife Kalpana Soren will step in as the Jharkhand Chief Minister.
However, there are legal difficulties in his wife taking over his duties. As per the constitutional provisions, if the term of the Assembly expire in less than year, by-election cannot be held and in such instance, Kalpana Soren becoming an MLA is not possible. Assembly election in Jharkhand is to be held in November this year.
“We, all the MLAs of the alliance, of Congress, are fully supporting the Chief Minister,” NDTV quotes as Banna Gupta, the state”s health minister is saying. Banna Gupta belongs to Congress party.
The drama unfolded on Monday morning at Soren’s residence; unable to locate the chief minister, the ED searched the premises for over 13 hours. The agency also seized a Haryana-registered BMW car from his residence apart from other documents.
The central agency alleged Rs.600-crore land scam linked to the ownership of a parcel of land measuring 7.16 acres in the Bajra area of Ranchi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The agency has alleged that the land parcel was acquired through proceeds of crime involving the illegal sale of army land.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister dismissed the claims and stated that they are politically motivated.
Regarding the case, the agency so far has arrested 14 people including the 2011-batch IAS Officer Chhavi Ranjan, and deputy commissioner of Ranchi, Bhanu Pratap Prasad.
(With inputs from NDTV)
