Days after Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers failed to find Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren at his Delhi residence, he was seen walking out of his Ranchi residence on Tuesday (30th January).
Soren, who left Ranchi for Delhi on 27th January, reportedly traveled by road to see his father Shibu Soren in the state capital. The ED officials had gone to Soren’s residence in Delhi, the Jharkhand Bhavan, and a few other sites to question him, but he was not located.
He is currently chairing a meeting of ruling alliance MLAs at the CM House to examine the current political scenario in the state. According to the reports, Soren arrived at his official apartment past midnight. In images and videos published by the CMO on X, a significant number of MLAs and ministers were seen greeting Soren before the meeting began.
INSIDE Meeting Visuals: Jharkhand CM reappears after 30 hours, holds a meeting of the state's ministers and ruling side's MLAs at CM's residence in Ranchi. His wife Kalpana Soren is also present. #HemantSoren #Jharkhand #ED #JharkhandCM #JharkhandNews #KalpanaSoren pic.twitter.com/rylOBHaPoH
— Republic (@republic) January 30, 2024
The Chief Minister’s wife, Kalpana Soren, was also present at the meeting. All legislators from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led ruling alliance in Jharkhand were instructed not to leave the state capital and to join the conference.
The conference was called to address current political strategies, as well as the Enforcement Directorate’s proposal to question the Chief Minister on 31st January. Meanwhile, Governor CP Radhakrishnan has called the State DGP to discuss the state’s situation with regard to law and order.
Babulal Marandi, the State BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, stated that “as there has been no trace of the Chief Minister for the last two days, it will become a constitutional crisis in the State.” BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had stated that the JMM is planning to appoint Soren’s wife Kalpana as the next CM in case he gets arrested.
He had notified the ED that officials could question him on 31st January at his home.
In an email to the federal government on 29th January, Soren claimed that the issuance of summons to him was “wholly vexatious and in the colorable exercise of powers given by the statute”. “Preserve video recording of seven-hour questioning [of January 20] to make available to the Court of Law,” Soren added, agreeing to record his statement at his apartment at 1 p.m. on 31st January.
Soren filed his statement with the ED after ignoring eight summonses from the agency. The ED had previously summoned Soren on August 14, 24, September 9, 23, October 4, December 12, 29, and January 13, all of which he skipped.
The case concerns the suspected trade of tribal territory using forged documents between 2020 and 2022.
