Hemant Soren passes Jharkhand trust vote, accuses Assam CM of indulging in 'poaching' of UPA MLAs

Soren is faced with uncertainty over his continuance as chief minister following a petition by the BJP seeking his disqualification as an MLA in an office-of-profit case.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren along with United Progressive Alliance (UPA) MLAs arrives for the floor test in the State Assembly during a one-day special session, in Ranchi. (Photo | PTI)

RANCHI: The Hemant Soren government on Monday won the confidence vote in the Assembly by a comfortable margin – with 48 MLAs voting in favour in the 81-member Jharkhand House.

Uncertainty over the Soren government arose after the Election Commission reportedly sent a report recommending his disqualification over allegations that he allocated a mining lease to himself while holding the portfolio of Mines back in 2021.

Blaming the BJP for the current uncertainty in the state, Soren said that the BJP is yet to digest the fact that the public threw them out of power in 2019 after they did nothing for the poor except make elephants fly during their rule between 2014 and 2019.

“After the BJP could not compete with us politically, they started sending constitutional machinery to non-BJP ruled states and trying to destabilise the constitutionally-elected governments,” said Soren. The state government had to seek a vote of trust just to show BJP how strong they are inside the Assembly and give them a feel of how stronger we are outside it, he added.

Soren said that the onus of poaching Congress MLAs, who were caught in Bengal with a huge amount of cash, lies with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. “After making a tribal President, they are trying to snatch power from a tribal Chief Minister,” said Soren further saying, “I just want to give a message through this Assembly session, that your buying and selling would not work anymore, you cannot threaten us anymore... Assembly elections will come later; you will see the results in Lok Sabha elections only,” he said.

Soren further added that the way they are working in the State, BJP have got to know, and a survey has also been conducted by them which revealed that they will be whipped out from the State in the coming 2024 Assembly elections. That is why they are trying to destabilize this Government here at any cost, he said.

Meanwhile, BJP legislator party chief Babulal Marandi has written a letter to the Assembly speaker demanding the cancellation of the one-day assembly session. Marandi said that the way one-day session has been convened is unconstitutional as under Article 163 of the Constitution.