Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislator Sarfaraz Ahmad has resigned from the assembly, a notification issued by the assembly secretariat on Monday said, triggering speculation about chief minister Hemant Soren’s wife possibly contesting that seat as a contingency if the CM is arrested by federal agencies.
According to the notification, speaker Rabindranath Mahto has accepted the resignation of Ahmad, the legislator from Gandey. “It is being informed to the public that the Jharkhand assembly speaker has accepted the resignation letter of Gandey MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad. The constituency is vacant with effect from December 31, 2023,” it said.
Speaker Mahto told HT that Ahmad met him on Sunday and submitted his resignation. While Mahto said Ahmad did not specify any reason behind his resignation and he did not find it “appropriate” to inquire, the JMM leader told news agency PTI that he quit due to “personal reasons”. “I have tendered my resignation due to personal reasons,” he said.
While there was no official comment from the JMM, a party functionary, on the condition of anonymity, said the move was aimed at keeping the seat open for Soren’s wife Kalpana, in case the former faces action by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged land scam case.
“Gandey is a general seat where Kalpana Soren could contest from, in case she is made the chief minister in wake of possible ED action against Hemant. In the past two decades, barring 2014, the seat has alternatively been won either by Ahmad or Salkhen Soren of the JMM. The seat has a sizeable population of Muslims and tribals,” the JMM leader said, adding that the party president could convene a meeting of the legislature party later this week to discuss the future course of strategy.
{{/usCountry}}“Gandey is a general seat where Kalpana Soren could contest from, in case she is made the chief minister in wake of possible ED action against Hemant. In the past two decades, barring 2014, the seat has alternatively been won either by Ahmad or Salkhen Soren of the JMM. The seat has a sizeable population of Muslims and tribals,” the JMM leader said, adding that the party president could convene a meeting of the legislature party later this week to discuss the future course of strategy.
{{/usCountry}}In the latest seventh ED summons to CM Soren issued last month, he has been asked to inform the investigating officer about the date, venue, and time of his choice so that his statement could be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The probe pertains to a “huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia” in Jharkhand, according to ED.
The chief minister has accused the Union government of using central agencies to destabilise the democratically elected state government.
The BJP took a swipe at the chief minister over the resignation.
“Jharkhand MLA from Gandey, Sarfaraz Ahmed, has resigned from the assembly and his resignation has been accepted. Soon, Hemant Soren-ji will also resign from the post of chief minister and his wife, Kalpana Soren-ji, will take over as the next CM. The new year could bring pain to the Soren family,” BJP Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey posted on X.
Ahmed, who was twice elected to the state assembly from the Congress in the past, in 1980 and 2009, switched over to the JMM ahead of the 2019 assembly elections and won from his home constituency of Gandey.
On Sunday, the chief minister too had called on the speaker. “It was just a courtesy call on the eve of New Year. It had nothing to do with Ahmad’s resignation,” Mahto told HT.