RANCHI: In a major political development, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA from Ganday, Sarafraj Ahmed, resigned from Assembly membership without giving any reasons, which has triggered speculation among the political circles in Jharkhand.
Ahmed submitted his resignation on December 31, which was accepted on the same day, but it being Sunday the notification was issued on the next day.
The Assembly secretariat notified his resignation on Monday, saying the Gandey Assembly seat has fallen vacant since December 31 2023.
Sarfaraj had represented Gandey in 1980 and 2009 as a Congress MLA and in 2019 as JMM MLA. He was not available to comment on the sudden decision.
According to Assembly Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto, he did not ask for the reasons from Ahmed but accepted his resignation.
"Ahmed did not mention any reasons and submitted his resignation. Ahmed being a senior politician, I did not find it suitable to enquire for the reasons so I accepted it,” said the Speaker.
Meanwhile, the sudden resignation of any senior politician in the Assembly is bound to spark speculations as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has given a last chance to Chief Minister Hemant Soren asking him to decide time, date and place for questioning in the land scam case.
According to political experts, Soren as a part of political strategy could be keeping his options open in case he has to resign or get arrested in the land scam case.
Notably, Soren had skipped the entire seven summons issued to him by ED for questioning in the land scam case.
Political experts believe that the Chief Minister might be getting ready for a long political battle and putting in place his plan B in case he has to concede to the ED summons.
Speculations are rife that the seat is being kept for Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren in case of any emergency.
“Since Kalpana Soren, hailing from Odisha, is said to be not entitled to get the ST privilege to contest elections from a reserved seat in Jharkhand, Gandey, a general seat, might be a safe constituency for her,” they said.
However, JMM leaders remain tight-lipped on the issue.
“Only Sarfaraj Ahmed can say anything in this regard,” said JMM core committee member Vinod Pandey.
Jharkhand Congress Chief Rajesh Thakur, however, termed it as a part of the strategy of the state government to deal with any kind of emergency.
Meanwhile, Godda MP Nishikant Dubey has posted on X that Hemant Soren will resign and Kalpana Soren will be the next Chief Minister of Jharkhand.
“Jharkhand's Gandey MLA Sarfaraz Ahmed resigned from the assembly, resignation accepted. Hemant Soren ji will resign from the post of Chief Minister, his wife Kalpana Soren ji will be the next Chief Minister of Jharkhand. New Year painful for Soren family,” posted Nishikant Dubey on X.