RANCHI: Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais on Thursday assured a delegation of the ruling UPA that the political stalemate in the state will be addressed within a day or two. Bais gave the assurance after the 10-member delegation urged him to end the confusion surrounding the BJP’s demand to disqualify Chief Minister Hemant Soren in an office-of-profit case.
For the first time, Bais put it on record that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has submitted its report to him on the matter. “The Governor admitted that a report from ECI has been received by him and legal opinion is being taken from experts. Things will be clear within a day or two,” said Jharkhand Congress working president Badhu Tirkey.
The Soren government plunged into uncertainty after word got out that the ECI’s report had recommended his disqualification for allocating a mining lease to himself while holding the mining portfolio in 2021. Fearing horse-trading by the BJP, the UPA shifted a bunch of its MLAs to a Raipur resort on Tuesday.
Later in the day, the state cabinet decided to request the Governor for a day’s special Assembly session on September 5. In a related development, Assembly Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto deferred the hearing of a case on disqualification of three arrested Congress MLAs till September 5.