VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, Aug 25: The JMM legislature party meeting is likely to be held tomorrow to discuss emerging political scenarios after the Election Commission of India (ECI) reportedly sent its opinion on the disqualification of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
Hemant Soren is heading the UPA alliance of the JMM-Congress-RJD and his disqualification will not only push him out of power but may also increase the instability factor of the government at a time when the BJP is determined to unseat him.
However, the Chief Minister’s secretariat has vehemently denied having received any disqualification memo from the Governor or the ECI. Governor Ramesh Bais who returned to Ranchi too said that he has not seen any report. But the UPA alliance is worried that the ECI order may open a pandora box.
“We have not seen the ECI order. But the way the BJP showed desperation to politically damage the Chief Minister, the order may not be favourable. We have to stay prepared with advanced legal and political strategies,” said a senior leader of the ruling alliance. There is an inherent danger that the ECI would also debar Hemant Soren from contesting any election for a certain time period.
In such a case, Hemant Soren will have to pick his successor for CM and it is widely believed that his wife Kalpana Soren will be his successor. He would seek the consent of the Congress also for her anointment. There is another possibility that JMM patriarch and current Rajya Sabha MP Shibu Soren may be brought back to avert the crisis.
