Edited by Deepali Verma
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren is expected to step into his shoes if he gets arrested, sources in his Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Party have revealed. Mr Soren is due for questioning by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an alleged money laundering case. There is a possibility of his arrest by the agency after his statement is recorded.
Mr Soren, as per the sources, made the announcement at a meeting of the MLAs of the ruling alliance. The MLAs have reached an agreement stating that preservation of the government is crucial at this point.
“All the MLAs of the alliance of Congress, are in full support of the Chief Minister,” Banna Gupta, the state’s health minister informed the reporters.
However, Mrs Soren’s legal takeover may face some legal hurdles.
Constitutional provisions state if the term of the Assembly will expire in less than a year, by-polls cannot be held. Hence, it would be difficult for Kalpana Soren to become an MLA.
Assembly elections in Jharkhand are supposed to be held in November this year.
If the need be then legal opinion will be taken in this matter or someone else will take over at the top post, as per the sources.
The ₹ 600-crore land scam involves a “huge racket” to manipulate the ownership of government land, which was subsequently sold to builders, the agency has alleged.
The agency so far has made an arrest of 14 people in the case, such as 2011-batch IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan who served as the director of the state Social Welfare Department and deputy commissioner of Ranchi.
Mr Soren has claimed that he is the target of a huge conspiracy.
