Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren is staring at the possibility of disqualification as MLA over an office of profit case. Here are the top developments in the matter.

Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren may be disqualified as MLA (PTI photo)

The political fate of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his coalition government hangs in the balance amid allegations of holding an office of profit over a mining lease he owns.

Political circles both in Jharkhand and Delhi were abuzz with the news of the Election Commission of India sending a recommendation to Governor Ramesh Bais that Soren be disqualified as a member of the state assembly.

Sources in the EC have confirmed that their recommendation has reached the Governor. Bais is likely to send the disqualification order to the poll body on Saturday, according to sources.

Here’s a quick wrap of the developments in the mining lease case against Hemant Soren:

  • Members of the ruling UPA coalition in Jharkhand met at the CM’s residence for the second time on Friday to chalk out strategies to ensure that there was no threat to the government while Soren faces heat over the mining lease case.
  • Congress insiders told PTI that party MLAs may be put up at a resort in a ‘friendly state’ like West Bengal or Bihar to ward off poaching threat from the opposition BJP. The ruling coalition has 49 MLAs in the 81-member Assembly. The JMM, as the largest party, has 30 MLAs, the Congress 18 legislators, and the RJD one. BJP has 26 MLAs in the House.
  • Earlier in the day, Soren said at a public meeting that “satanic forces” were attempting to destabilise his democratically-elected government. He asserted that he was not worried as he had the people’s mandate, and that he would fight till the last drop of his blood.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren faces disqualification, blames BJP for controversy.#ITVideo #HemantSoren #JharkhandCM pic.twitter.com/tCKP3PZzla

— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) August 25, 2022

  • The JMM exuded confidence that Soren will remain as the chief minister till 2024. The party also said it will move the Supreme Court if Soren is disqualified as an MLA.
  • A complaint was lodged against Hemant Soren for awarding a mining lease to himself. The BJP, the petitioner in the case, has sought Soren’s disqualification as MLA for violating Section 9(A) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which deals with disqualification for government contracts.
  • The clause states that “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 the execution of any works undertaken by, that government”.
  • The issue was referred to Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais and by him to the EC, as Article 192 of the Constitution states that on rulings regarding an MLA’s disqualification, the question shall be referred to the governor who in turn “shall obtain the opinion of the Election Commission and shall act according to such opinion”.
  • Sources said the EC has sent its recommendation of disqualification to the Jharkhand Governor. The ball now lies in Governor Ramesh Bais’s court. He will have to issue a notification, after which the disqualification proceedings will begin.
  • Soren alleged blatant misuse of constitutional authorities and public agencies after reports claimed that the EC recommended his disqualification as an MLA in the mining lease case. “It seems that BJP leaders including a BJP MP and his puppet journalists have themselves drafted the ECI report, which is otherwise always given in a sealed cover,” he said in a statement.
  • The BJP has already called for fresh elections and asked the chief minister to resign “on moral grounds”. “Hemant Soren should head towards mid-term polls, on moral grounds,” BJP MP