Office of profit case: Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren meets governor, demands copy of EC opinion
RANCHI: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday met governor Ramesh Bais at Raj Bhawan in Ranchi and demanded a copy of the opinion sent by the Election Commission in the office of profit case against him.
This comes a day after passing the two most awaited proposals related to domicile policy and 27 per cent reservation to OBC in the Cabinet.
The Chief Minister requested the governor to give him an opportunity to put his points so that the environment of uncertainty could be put to an end in the state.
Notably, a BJP delegation led by former chief minister Raghubar Das on February 10, had met Bais and handed over a memorandum seeking disqualification and removal of CM Soren alleging him of violating the constitutional provision under section 9A of The Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Taking cognizance of the matter, the governor forwarded those documents to ECI and sought its opinion which he received on August 25. The letter handed over to the governor by CM Soren, stated that the misguiding news spread by BJP and the reports being filtered out through Raj Bhawan sources in the media have created a sense of confusion in the government, bureaucracy and the people as well, which is not in the interest either for the state or the people.
BJP is trying to use this environment of uncertainty as a weapon to grab power in an unethical way, it said. Soren further stated that BJP would never succeed in its intentions as his government has a two-thirds majority in the Assembly.
The UPA government in the State also won the trust vote in the Assembly on September 5 with huge support and the MLAs have expressed their confidence in my leadership, he stated.
“Being the Constitutional head of the State, it is expected that you play an important role in the protection of the constitution and democracy. As an elected head of a democratically elected government, I am committed to adhere to the constitution and rule of law,” stated Soren further saying, “Therefore I request you to provide me a copy of the opinion sent by the Election Commission in the office of profit case against me and give me an opportunity to put my points so that the environment of uncertainly could be put to an end in this state.”
Uncertainty over Hemant Soren's government in Jharkhand arose after the EC reportedly sent a report recommending his disqualification over allegations that he allocated a mining lease to himself while holding the portfolio of Mines in 2021, putting the ruling alliance in a fix.
After keeping a close eye on the developments on Raj Bhawan for five days, the UPA, in the wake of the possible attempts of horse trading by the BJP and keeping its flock intact, shifted its MLAs to a Raipur Resort on July 31.
UPA MLAs and ministers returned to Ranchi after six days of their stay at Chhattisgarh Resort by a special flight, a day ahead of the special Assembly session on September 5. In between, none of the MLAs was allowed to go home and was confined to a newly constructed Circuit House in Ranchi for another few hours till CM Soren won the trust vote in Assembly on the next day.