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Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren meets legislators as he faces disqualification
People aware of the matter said most of the 49 legislators of the ruling alliance, which also includes Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, attended the meeting
Chief minister Hemant Soren on Friday chaired a meeting of his ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led ruling alliance legislators a day after a political crisis gripped the state after the Election Commission of India (ECI) sent a report ostensibly recommending his disqualification as a member of the assembly.
People aware of the matter said most of the 49 legislators of the ruling alliance, which also includes Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, attended the meeting. The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 26 lawmakers in the 81-member state assembly, while its ally AJSU Party has two.
“The legislators will assemble again for an informal meeting in the evening. Our alliance is intact and there is no threat to the government,” said minister Hafizul Ansari.
The legislators dismissed rumours that the ruling alliance could shift its legislators to some other state. “We do not need to go anywhere. We are not the BJP,” said Congress leader and minister Banna Gupta.
JMM leader Supriyo Bhattacharya said the meeting was called to deliberate on the prevailing political situation. “The message is loud and clear that we are intact and ready to face any consequences.”
ECI is believed to have made its recommendation in a sealed envelope sent to governor Ramesh Bais, who sought the poll watchdog’s advice after the BJP sought action against Soren for allegedly holding an “office of profit”; a mining licence in this case.
It was unclear whether ECI also recommended that Soren be barred from contesting elections for a specific time.
Bais on Thursday returned to Ranchi from New Delhi and held meetings with senior advisers and officials.
A defiant Soren attacked the BJP and ECI and said he has received no communication from either the watchdog or Bais. He said it seems that BJP leaders and “his puppet journalists” have drafted the ECI report, which is otherwise always given in a sealed cover.
Soren may be able to contest a by-election within six months and continue as chief minister till then if he is only disqualified as an MLA. If he then wins the bypoll and his party renominates him as the leader, he can remain the chief minister. But if he is both disqualified as MLA and barred from contesting elections for a specific period of time, then it will become difficult for him to continue as the chief minister.
Under Article 192 of the Constitution, rulings regarding an MLA’s disqualifications have to be referred to the governor who in turn “shall obtain the opinion of the Election Commission and shall act according to such opinion.”
In February, the BJP submitted a memorandum to the governor seeking Soren’s disqualification alleging he misused his position to get the licence of a stone mine on the outskirts of Ranchi. The same month, Soren applied for cancellation of the lease, which was granted on February 4.
The BJP argued Soren violated the office of profit rules meant to prevent conflict of interest for parliamentarians and state lawmakers. It, therefore, sought his disqualification under Section 9(A) of the Representation of People’s Act.
Soren argued holding a mining lease was out of the purview of the office of profit rules and that the lease was originally granted to him for 10 years on May 17, 2008, when he did not hold the chief minister’s post. He applied for renewal of the lease in 2018, but the application had lapsed.
