Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren will participate in the trust vote in the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly on February 5, after a special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court granted his request on February 3.
Mr. Soren, who represents the Barhait Assembly constituency in Sahibganj district, had appealed to the court earlier in the day, to allow him to vote in the new government’s floor test, as a member of the Jharkhand Assembly. PMLA special judge Dinesh Rai gave the order allowing him to participate. On Friday, the special PMLA court had remanded him to five days in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a case of alleged money-laundering.
To win the vote of confidence, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led ruling alliance will need the support of 41 MLAs. In their support letter submitted to Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan, 43 MLAs have signed. The total strength of the Jharkhand Assembly stands at 80, after the recent resignation of JMM MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad from the Gandey Assembly seat.
MLAs sequestered in Hyderabad
The ongoing political crisis in Jharkhand was triggered by the arrest of Mr. Soren by the ED in connection with the money laundering case. Facing imminent arrest on Wednesday, Mr. Soren resigned from the State’s top post, after which Transport Minister Champai Soren was elected as the new leader of the JMM legislative party.
Mr. Champai Soren took his oath as the twelfth Chief Minister of Jharkhand on Friday, along with Satyanand Bhokta of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Alamgiri Alam of the Congress, who were sworn in as Cabinet Ministers.
To avert the threat of horse-trading, 39 MLAs from the ruling alliance were flown to a Hyderabad resort by chartered plane on Friday. According to JMM sources, all MLAs will return on Monday morning, just hours before the trust vote.
