Jharkhand Crisis: Soren, MLAs Pick ‘BJP-style Resort Politics’ Amid Poaching Fears | Highlights

The political turmoil in Jharkhand deepened on Saturday amid threats of chief minister Hemant Soren being “disqualified” as an MLA over a mining lease case, even as the Congress called an emergency meeting seeking a discussion in view of the political events of the past few days.

In a dramatic turn of events, amid fears of poaching by the main opposition BJP, Soren and legislators of the ruling JMM-Congress-RJD left on three buses and put up at a guest house near Latratu dam in Khunti district. According to sources from Raj Bhavan, governor Ramesh Bais is likely to have sent the order of Soren’s disqualification as an MLA to the Election Commission of India. On August 25, the ECI sent its opinion to Bais on a plea seeking that Soren be disqualified as an MLA for violating electoral norms by extending a mining lease to himself.

Here is all the action and the latest updates from the Jharkhand crisis, which could well decide Soren’s fate as CM:

1. Legislators from the ruling JMM-led coalition presented a pristine picture as they enjoyed boat rides and shared tidbits from their bus journey to a picturesque Latratu dam in the state’s Khunti district. Chief minister Hemant Soren and the legislators moved out of state capital Ranchi in three buses guarded by heavy security, even as fears of poaching by the main opposition BJP grew.
2. After returning to the state capital Ranchi from Khunti, the Congress held a legislative party meeting. The grand old party is a crucial ally of the JMM-led coalition government and gathered to discuss the political events of the past few days, aiming to reach a conclusion. “A conspiracy was hatched to destabilise our state government. Across country, elected government are being destabilised. Now, it has become a norm. The Congress is firmly standing against it and there’s no crisis in government,” said minister Banna Gupta after the legislative party meeting.
3. The decision to move out of the state capital came after a marathon third round of a meeting between legislators of the ruling alliance at the chief minister’s residence to chalk out a strategy to deal with the emerging scenario. The MLAs took part in the meeting along with their luggage. Insiders in the Congress said ring-fencing of MLAs by parking them at a resort in a “friendly state” such as West Bengal, Bihar, or Chhattisgarh was being considered as an option to prevent poaching.
4. There is no update regarding whether Jharkhand governor Ramesh Bais sent the order of disqualification of Soren as an MLA to the ECI on Saturday. But, sources in the Raj Bhavan earlier said, “The governor will sign the disqualification order today and it will be sent to the ECI.” Sources in the governor’s official residence had claimed that the ECI had recommended Soren’s disqualification as an MLA for violating electoral norms by extending a mining lease to himself, but there has been no official confirmation yet.
5. On Friday, Soren lashed out at the Centre for “unleashing” all constitutional agencies to “destabilise a democratically elected government”. The executive president of the JMM said “satanic forces” were all out to execute evil designs. He later tweeted, “The Centre has unleashed all agencies on me after I asked for legitimate Rs 1.36 lakh crore dues pending to the state. When they saw that they cannot harm me, they are trying to harass ‘Guruji’ (Shibu Soren), who is in a certain age bracket, to get to me.”
6. Jharkhand rural development and parliamentary affairs minister Alamgir Alam also said the MLAs of the ruling alliance cannot be poached. Another minister, Mithilesh Thakur, claimed that the ruling coalition has the magic number of “50 MLAs, which can go up to 56” while asserting that they had learnt “resort politics” from the saffron party.
7. The BJP is the petitioner in the case and has sought Soren’s disqualification for violating Section 9A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which deals with disqualification for government contracts. The clause states that “a person shall be disqualified if, and for so long as, there subsists a contract entered into by him in the course of his trade or business with the appropriate government for the supply of goods to, or for the execution of any works undertaken by, that government”.
8. The JMM, meanwhile, is confident that Soren will remain the CM for a full term till 2024. It is the largest party and has 30 MLAs, with the Congress at 18 and the RJD at one. The main opposition BJP has 26 MLAs in the House. The coalition partners have also claimed that there is no threat to the government. The party also demanded legal action against BJP leaders for disclosing a reported official decision despite no confirmation from either ECI or Raj Bhavan. The Congress, in fact, said it will welcome the ECI’s decision on a plea seeking Soren’s disqualification as an MLA, while accusing the BJP of trying to destabilise the state government from Day 1.

(With PTI inputs)

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