The political turmoil in Jharkhand has come to a conclusion. On one hand, Hemant Soren has been arrested, while on the other hand, Champai Soren has been elected as the new Chief Minister of the state.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren resigned from his post on Wednesday. After a seven-hour interrogation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) took him into custody.
Champai Soren, a prominent leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Transport Minister, is now set to replace Hemant Soren. Hemant Soren was formally arrested after being taken to the ED office.
Just moments after meeting with the Governor and tendering his resignation, Hemant Soren was taken into custody in connection with an alleged land scam case.
According to sources, he discussed the matter with officials and announced that he would sign the arrest warrant only after stepping down from his position.
Following this announcement, ED officials accompanied him to meet the Governor. If a Chief Minister evades summons three times, he can be arrested under anti-money laundering regulations.
After evading the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the entire week, Hemant Soren agreed to be questioned by the central agency on Wednesday afternoon. His statement was recorded during the interrogation.
Former Chief Minister Hemant Soren had evaded seven summons related to the alleged money laundering case associated with a land scam worth 600 crores.
This had raised serious concerns about his potential arrest. Yesterday, discussions were held among legislators of the ruling coalition to decide who would be the next CM.
Initially, there were expectations that his wife, Kalpana Soren, would be chosen as the CM. However, considering the upcoming state elections in November, the party decided it would be more appropriate to appoint Champai Soren as CM instead of Kalpana.
Any by-election cannot be held in the last year of a state assembly's term, hence even if Kalpana Soren had been appointed as the Chief Minister yesterday, she could not have been elected as a legislator.
