Clear air on ECI opinion on CM Soren, UPA team tells J’khand Governor

In its memorandum submitted to the Governor, the eight-member delegation said the “purported selective leaks” from the Raj Bhawan were creating a state of chaos, confusion and uncertainty, which vitiates the administration and governance of state.

A delegation from Jharkhand’s ruling alliance of JMM, Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) met Governor Ramesh Bais on Thursday and requested him to “clear the air” on the opinion given by Election Commission of India (ECI) following a complaint by Opposition BJP that has demanded disqualification of chief minister Hemant Soren as a member of the state assembly while accusing him of holding an office of profit.

A delegation of UPA alliance meets Jharkhand governor Ramesh Bais to submit a memorandum at Raj Bhawan in Ranchi on Thursday. (ANI)

In its memorandum submitted to the Governor, the eight-member delegation said the “purported selective leaks” from the Raj Bhawan were creating a state of chaos, confusion and uncertainty, which vitiates the administration and governance of state. “This also encourages political brinkmanship to destabilise the democratically elected government headed by chief minister Hemant Soren,” said a member of the delegation, quoting from the memorandum.

The development comes two days after 31 legislators of the ruling alliance were moved to Chhattisgarh amid reports of an imminent disqualification of Soren from Jharkhand assembly.

The ECI had sent it opinion on the issue to the Governor on August 26, but the Raj Bhawan is yet to make its decision public.

The issue relates to CM Soren allegedly getting a mining lease allotted to himself while holding the mining portfolio.

In its first official communication on the issue after the delegation’s visit, Raj Bhawan said they would “soon” decide on the matter. “A delegation of the UPA met the Governor today and discussed about office-of-profit issue and the ECI opinion on the assembly membership of the chief minister. The delegation requested the Governor to make things clear on the issue. The Governor assured the delegation that he would soon take adequate measures on the issue,” a statement from Raj Bhawan said.

The memorandum submitted to the Governor also said that even if the CM is disqualified from assembly, it would not affect the health of the government. “The disqualification, if any, of the chief minister will not have any effect on the government as the ruling coalition will still enjoy an overwhelming majority in the state legislative assembly,” it said.

In the 81-member Jharkhand assembly, CM Soren’s party, the JMM (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), has 30 MLAs, Congress 18 and RJD one. The ruling alliance’s strength of 49 is eight more than the halfway mark of 41 in the House.

The Opposition BJP has 26 members while the rest are from smaller parties and Independents.