Jharkhand’s ruling coalition on Tuesday moved the bulk of its lawmakers to a resort in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh to avert a political crisis amid a stalemate over the future of chief minister Hemant Soren who faces disqualification over corruption charges.
Thirty-one legislators and 10 other leaders boarded a flight from Ranchi to Raipur, where they were lodged in a luxury resort. The development came roughly a week after the Election Commission (EC) sent a report to governor Ramesh Bais ostensibly recommending Soren’s disqualification from the assembly over allegations that he illegally received a mining licence. Since the report was sent to Raj Bhavan on August 25, the governor has made no statement about it even as speculation has mounted.
Chhattisgarh is ruled by the Congress, one of the constituents of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in Jharkhand.
Speaking to reporters after seeing off the legislators at the airport, Soren said the ruling camp was prepared for all eventualities. “Neither what is happening today is unprecedented (MLAs being shifted to a resort in other state), nor any thing unfortunate is going to happen. The ruling camp is ready for all eventualities. This is being done as per strategy and you would see more such things in future. We will give answers to our opponents,” said Soren.
The chief minister, however, did not give a straight answer on whether he would join his MLAs at some point. “Will let you know,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}The chief minister, however, did not give a straight answer on whether he would join his MLAs at some point. “Will let you know,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}The ruling alliance legislators left Ranchi’s Birsa Munda airport at 4.30pm and arrived at Swami Vivekananda Airport in Raipur at around 5.45pm. They were taken to the Mayfair Golf Resort in Nava Raipur in three luxury buses.
Of the 31 lawmakers, 19 were from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and 12 from the Congress. The other 10 include Jharkhand Congress in-charge Avinash Pande and state unit chief Rajesh Thakur.
The chief minister and five ministers from the JMM have stayed back as of now. “All four Congress ministers have also left. Some other legislators who are unwell have also not gone which includes Mamta Devi from the Congress, Savita Mahto, Deepak Birau and Lobin Hembrom from JMM,” said a senior leader, requesting anonymity.
In the 81-member legislative assembly, 49 belong to the ruling alliance. Of them, 30 are from the JMM, 18 from the Congress, and one from the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Three Congress legislators are in Kolkata for three months according to their bail condition after they were arrested with unaccounted cash, while one Congress MLA is unwell.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ally, All Jharkhand Students Union, have 28 MLAs and there are two independent legislators. A Nationalist Congress Party MLA and a Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) member are supporting the government.
“Till now we would hear that opposition MLAs used to run away due to threat from government. But in Jharkhand the government itself led by the CM is running away. This could be a result of lack of trust on their own,” said BJP legislature party leader Babulal Marandi.
The crisis began last Thursday after EC sent a report in a sealed envelope sent to Bais, who had sought the poll watchdog’s advice after the BJP sought action against the CM for allegedly holding an “office of profit” — in this case, a mining licence.
It was unclear whether EC also recommended that Soren be barred from further contesting elections for a specific time period. Since then, the contents of the tightly guarded letter have not been made public and the governor has not spoken about his impending decision even as the BJP demanded Soren’s resignation.
Soren and the JMM have rejected all charges.
Earlier in the day, the state public relations department announced that a cabinet meeting was scheduled on September 1. “The cabinet ministers are likely to return to Ranchi on Wednesday,” said a senior Congress leader.
In Raipur, Congress leaders who arranged for the stay said all 50 rooms in Mayfair Golf Resort were booked for the next couple of days. Security was tightened in and around the resort, where in June, Haryana Congress had shifted its MLAs amid fears of cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls.
“Around 70 police personnel have been deployed in and around the resort,” said a senior police official, requesting anonymity.
Last year, candidates of the Bodoland Peoples Front (BPF), a member of the Congress-led grand alliance in Assam, were brought to Raipur in April ahead of counting and kept in the same resort. “The Chhattisgarh Congress Committee is supervising the arrangements and stay of MLAs,” said a senior state leader of the Congress.
Jharkhand’s political crisis has its genesis in February, when the BJP submitted a memorandum to the governor seeking Soren’s disqualification and alleging the CM had misused his position to get the licence of a stone mine on the outskirts of Ranchi allotted in his name. The same month, Soren applied for cancellation of the lease, which was granted on February 4.
The BJP argued that Soren had broken the office of profit rules — which mean to prevent conflict of interest for parliamentarians and state lawmakers — and therefore, should be disqualified under Section 9(A) of Representation of People’s Act, 1952. According to Section 9A, ”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 execution of any works by that government.’’
Soren argued that holding a mining lease was out of the purview of the office of profit rules and that the lease for the 0.88 acre parcel of land was originally granted to him for 10 years on May 17, 2008, when he didn’t hold the CM’s post. He had applied for renewal of the lease in 2018, but the application had lapsed.
According to Soren, he reapplied “sometime in 2021” when the deputy commissioner in Ranchi invited fresh applications and he was subsequently granted the lease as per procedures. However, Soren said, he did not obtain the consent to operate and on February 4 this year, he applied to surrender the lease and his request was accepted by the department.
On March 28, Bais referred the petition to EC.