Jharkhand CM hits out at BJP, says “they only buy and sell MLAs”

Amid the political turmoil in Jharkhand, Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party by accusing them of political horse-trading.

Ranchi: Amid the political turmoil in Jharkhand, Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by accusing them of political horse-trading.

“They only buy and sell MLAs but we work for the public and don’t do horse-trading. People will give answers to those who are doing business in politics,” Soren said.

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The CM also said he is not worried about this chief ministership, but about the people in Jharkhand. “I’m never worried about the chair. I only worry about the Dalits, Adivasis and people of the state.” On Saturday, Soren tweeted that he hailed from the tribal community and was unaffected by the ongoing slugfest.

Meanwhile, Congress leader and Health Minister Banna Gupta on Saturday said a conspiracy was hatched to destabilize the government in the state.

“A conspiracy was hatched to destabilize our state govt. Across the country, elected governments are being destabilised. Now, it has become a norm. Congress is firmly standing against it and there’s no crisis in govt,” Gupta said after the Congress Legislative Party meeting.

In the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, the ruling alliance has 30 MLAs of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), 18 MLAs of the Congress and one MLA of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Earlier on Saturday, Chief Minister Hemant Soren had called a meeting of the state’s ruling UPA coalition members, amidst speculation about his possible disqualification as an MLA in the state assembly for allegedly violating poll norms by extending himself a mining lease.

This was the third meeting in two days. Several MLAs were seen arriving for the meeting with luggage in tow.

On Friday MLAs of the ruling coalition assured Soren of their support. Gupta also said that the JMM-Congress coalition is “standing strong”.

The BJP has sought the disqualification of Soren as an MLA accusing him of allocating a mining lease to himself while he held the portfolio of Mines Minister in 2021. In February this year, the BJP submitted a memorandum to the Governor seeking disqualification of Soren from the House under Section 9(A) of the Representation of People’s Act. The Governor had forwarded the BJP complaint to the ECI and the poll panel in May had issued a notice to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader.