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Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who was considered ‘underground’ for about 48 hours, suddenly appeared in Ranchi. Yes, the ED team was searching for him in Delhi. For two days the media cameras kept running here and there. Where is CM Soren? Questions were being raised that where has the CM of Jharkhand disappeared? Everyone knew about his arrival in Delhi but no one saw what happened (happen ) after that. Now I don’t know whether this will be called dodging or something else. ED had been summoning him for questioning for a long time. Two days ago, ED officials suddenly arrived at the Delhi house but did not find Soren. There was hustle and bustle at the airport also. After all, how did Soren reach Ranchi from Delhi? All this happened in film style.
It is learned that CM Soren has gone from Delhi to Ranchi by road. Yes, he covered the distance of 1295 km by car. By the time the ED team was searching for him in Delhi, he had secretly left the capital. On Tuesday, he kept meeting with his MLAs till late night. The confidence shown on his face in Ranchi was proof that the CM has made a future strategy.
Signed on ‘blank paper’
Soren has held a meeting with all his 47 MLAs and ministers. He has talked about all the further options.
On the other hand, the MLAs of the ruling coalition in Jharkhand have signed the letter of support without names. On Tuesday evening, MLAs of allied parties held a meeting and expressed solidarity towards the Hemant Soren government. Amid speculations about handing over the command to Chief Minister’s wife Kalpana Soren, these MLAs have signed the letter of support without anyone’s name. Kalpana Soren is not an MLA yet she has attended the meeting of MLAs.
It was being said for a long time that if ED tightens its grip on Soren, he can hand over the post of Chief Minister to his wife Kalpana. Like Lalu Yadav did in Bihar.
At present, the MLAs of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the alliance have been asked to stay in Ranchi only.
A lot will become clear in the next 24 hours. Soren is going to answer the questions of ED officials in the land scam case at 1 pm today at his residence in Ranchi. Prohibitory orders have been imposed in Ranchi with deployment of additional police forces.
What was found in the Delhi raid?
The ED team had raided Soren’s Delhi house on Monday to interrogate him in the money laundering case related to the land deal and camped there for about 13 hours. ED has claimed to have recovered Rs 36 lakh in cash, a BMW car and some documents. However, like Jharkhand CM Soren, his father Shibu Soren also went missing in 2004. He was not found for four days. The police had been searching for him in Delhi and Jharkhand in a three decade old case.
Yesterday, when asked about the CM, JMM General Secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said that we had already said that the CM has gone to Delhi for personal work. After completion of the work he returned to Ranchi. The party is completely silent about the fact that if no one knew about the CM, then how did he come to Ranchi. Yes, Bhattacharya definitely said that if the CM goes somewhere by plane, he should return by plane only, there is no constitutional obligation for this.
On the other hand, after Bihar, political heat has increased in Jharkhand. BJP President Babulal Marandi released the poster and wrote, ‘Search is on for the missing Chief Minister of Jharkhand… Any gentleman who sees this person should immediately inform on the given address. The person giving correct information will be given a cash amount of Rs 11 thousand. JMM has said that it will file a defamation case against Marandi and Nishikant Dubey. The party has also raised the question that when the CM had already said that he would be present in Ranchi on January 31, then why did the ED come to his Delhi house? CM is being treated like a criminal.
What will happen if arrested?
Hemant Soren may resign before or after the possible arrest by ED.
He can put forward the name of wife Kalpana Soren as his successor. Yes, there was a family hurdle for this as well which has probably been resolved. His elder sister-in-law Sita Soren and brother Basant Soren are also MLAs. In such a situation, father’s permission will be necessary to support Kalpana. Soren has earlier said that the talk of his wife contesting elections is an attempt by BJP to present a wrong narrative.
If the father does not agree to Kalpana’s idea, then it is possible that the CM will convince his own father to become the CM.
If all three options are not successful then Soren can make a senior MLA the Chief Minister. A woman minister can be given the post of CM in place of his wife, so that she can regain the post later. However, considering the experience of Nitish-Manjhi episode, there is little possibility of doing so now. Whatever may happen, Soren has a ‘blank paper’ ready with his signature.
