Ranchi: The Congress and the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Thursday sequestered their MLAs amid allegations of deliberate delay in government formation. Hours after Champai Soren met with Jharkhand governor C. P. Radhakrishnan and demanded that the process for government formation be expedited, the Congress moved its MLAs from a "safe place" to the airport.
"We are going to the airport. You know what kind of people they are, they can do anything anytime. A total of 43 MLAs are going," Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur said.
The leader of JMM legislative party, Champai Soren and MLAs of the party also reached the Ranchi airport on Thursday evening.
They will be flown to an undisclosed location.
Champai Soren, who was elected by the JMM MLAs as the leader who will replace Hemant Soren as the Jharkhand chief minister, today met with the governor, a day after he submitted a letter of support to him.
Also read: Congress hides ‘soft-target’ Jharkhand MLAs; governor invites Champai Soren
"We have demanded from the governor that the process to start the formation of the new government should begin. The governor has also assured us that the process will begin soon. Currently we have submitted the report with 43 MLAs in our support. We expect that the number will reach 46-47 so there is no problem. Our 'gathbandhan' is very strong," he said.
Congress takes MLAs to safe place
{{/usCountry}}"We have demanded from the governor that the process to start the formation of the new government should begin. The governor has also assured us that the process will begin soon. Currently we have submitted the report with 43 MLAs in our support. We expect that the number will reach 46-47 so there is no problem. Our 'gathbandhan' is very strong," he said.
Congress takes MLAs to safe place
{{/usCountry}}Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday, shortly after he resigned as the chief minister. He is an accused in a money-laundering probe.
Earlier today, the Congress said it had sequestered its MLAs at a safe place to prevent horse trading attempts by the BJP.
Also read: Who is Champai Soren, Jharkhand's next CM?
Congress in-charge for Jharkhand, Ghulam Ahmad Mir said that when it comes to BJP and its allies, oath ceremonies are generally organised within hours of staking a claim to form a government.
"In the case of Nitish Kumar, he took oath just five hours after resigning. In Jharkhand's case, despite having a majority, they have not sworn in the chief minister. This raises suspicion. The governor has the ‘demand paper’. We want the governor to make a decision fast. New chief minister must be sworn in, the government must be formed," he said.
Also read: ‘Don’t I have right to buy properties?': Hemant Soren in 2021 interview to HT
When asked about Congress MLAs, he said they have been kept at a safe place.
"Many MLAs can be soft targets. We wouldn't have needed to do this if the governor had sworn in the new chief minister. We took a safe side based on our assessment of his intentions. We have not kept our MLAs in the open, we have kept the MLAs at a safe place," he added.
Soren earlier said that he was waiting for an invite from the Raj Bhavan to form a government in Jharkhand.
"We yesterday handed over a letter of support from 43 MLAs to the governor yesterday. Now we have the support of 47 legislators. We are waiting for 15-16 hours whereas oaths are administered within two hours of stake claim and invite in other states,” he said.