Jharkhand Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Babulal Marandi on January 7 accused Chief Minister Hemant Soren of offering ₹200 crore plus a Rajya Sabha seat to Jhakhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Sarfaraz Ahmad, who recently resigned from the Gandey Assembly seat.
With Mr. Soren facing imminent arrest in an alleged land scam case, the BJP has been alleging that Mr. Ahmad has resigned to provide safe passage for the CM’s wife Kalpana Soren to contest the election from a general seat. According to the rules, she cannot contest from the reserved tribal seat of Berhait, which is presently represented by Mr. Soren.
Citing personal reasons, Mr. Ahmad had resigned from the Gandey seat on January 1, and his resignation was immediately accepted by the Assembly Speaker. The Jharkhand BJP president has alleged that Mr. Ahmad was well-compensated for his sacrifice.
‘Sacrifice for Kalpana Soren’
“I have been getting reports that Hemant Soren has made a deal with ₹200 crore and a Rajya Sabha seat for Sarfaraz Ahmad. Such discussion is taking place on the streets all over Jharkhand,” Mr. Marandi told journalists in Dhanbad. “It is almost certain that Hemant Soren will go to jail. The way [former Bihar CM] Lalu Prasad anointed his wife Rabri Devi as the Chief Minister before going to jail, Mr. Soren is doing the same. He knows very well that soon he will shift to Hotwar Jail instead of his Kanke Road residence,” he added, referring to the CM’s official residence in Ranchi.
Mr. Marandi further stressed that the only reason Mr. Ahmad had vacated the seat was to allow Ms. Soren to succeed her husband as Chief Minister. Earlier this week, the BJP leader wrote to Jharkhand Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan, urging him not to allow anyone who is not a member of the State Assembly to take oath as the Chief Minister.
As per the rules, after taking the CM’s oath, one has to become a member of the State Assembly within six months. Filling the vacant seat is a top priority for the JMM, evident from the fact that a JMM delegation met the State’s Chief Election Officer on Friday and urged him to conduct the Gandey bypoll as soon as possible.
Mr. Soren is facing imminent arrest after he skipped seven summons from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged land scam case.
‘Speaking nonsense’
Senior tribal leader and Jharkhand Congress working president Bandhu dismissed Mr. Marandi’s accusations as “nonsense”.
“Babulal ji has become a ‘fuse bulb’ and keeps on speaking nonsense just to grab the media limelight. I know him very well because I was also in his party Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM). He did not speak a word for the past four years; however, after becoming the State president of the BJP, he has started speaking useless things just to remain in the media. In the initial days, there was some sharpness in his speech but today he is just talking nonsense to make headlines,” Mr. Tirkey said.
