Amid the political mayhem in Jharkhand, Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Sunday called on state Congress incharge Avinash Pande to discuss the next course of action.
The meeting between the two leaders took place at the state Guest House and lasted for an hour. Asked about the delay in Governor’s decision over the Chief Minister’s post, Soren said, “It is Governor Ramesh Bais who can answer this better.”
After the meeting, Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur said, “This meeting was between Chief Minister and Congress state incharge Avinash Pande. What they have discussed is not right to make public. But yes they have discussed about the state political situation and the cloud of uncertainty.”
Amid the political turmoil, state health minister and Congress leader Banna Gupta on dared the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre to impose Article 365 of the Constitution in the state.
Addressing a press conference, the Minister said, “It is a pre-planned conspiracy to destabilise the Jharkhand government. We want to know from the Governor that if the Election Commission has sent something, then it should be made public. ED has raided for months but nothing was found.”
“We have a full majority. If BJP has the courage, then impose Article 365 and dislodge the state government. Otherwise, it should not talk rubbish. The people of the state are now disturbed with all of this. The entire system has been stalled,” added Gupta.
In the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, the ruling alliance has 30 MLAs of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), 18 MLAs of the Congress and one MLA of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
Chief Minister Hemant Soren had called a meeting of the state’s ruling UPA coalition members on Saturday amidst speculation about his possible disqualification as an MLA in the state assembly for allegedly violating poll norms by extending himself a mining lease.
This was the third meeting in two days. Several MLAs were seen arriving for the meeting with luggage in tow. Soren tweeted that he hailed from the tribal community and was unaffected by the ongoing slugfest.
On Friday MLAs of the ruling coalition assured Soren of their support. Gupta also said that the JMM-Congress coalition is “standing strong”.
The BJP has sought the disqualification of Soren as an MLA accusing him of allocating a mining lease to himself while he held the portfolio of Mines Minister in 2021.
In February this year, the BJP submitted a memorandum to the Governor seeking disqualification of Soren from the House under Section 9(A) of the Representation of People’s Act.
The Governor had forwarded the BJP complaint to the ECI and the poll panel in May had issued a notice to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader.