Hemant Soren Hemant Soren's wife may be named chief minister if he is arrested: Reports
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's wife Kalpana Soren might step into his shoes if he gets arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), media reports quoting sources in his Jharkhand Mukti Morcha party have claimed.
The ED will question Soren in connection with an alleged money laundering case on Wednesday.
There are chances that he might be arrested by the agency after his statement is recorded.
According to reports, Soren announced this at a meeting of the MLAs of the ruling alliance this evening. The MLAs have agreed since preservation of the government is crucial at this point.
"We, all the MLAs of the alliance of Congress, are fully supporting the Chief Minister," Banna Gupta, the state's health minister who belongs to the Congress, told reporters late this evening.
Constitutional provisions demand that if the term of the assembly expires in less than a year, by-polls cannot be held. In that case, it would be difficult for Kalpana Soren to become an MLA.
The assembly election in Jharkhand is due in November this year.
Hemant Soren earlier in the day appeared in the state capital Ranchi amid speculations over his whereabouts following ED officials' bid to reach out to him for questioning in connection with a money laundering scam.
Soren was seen going out of his official residence after holding a meeting of the ruling coalition MLAs.
So far, the Chief Minister has evaded seven summons for questioning and reports said he is preparing to challenge the ED's summons in court.
Soren has claimed that he is being targeted as a part of a huge conspiracy.
"A conspiracy was hatched against me, but the final nail in the coffin of the conspirators will be put by us... We will not be scared, your leader will face the bullets first and keep your morale high," Soren had told the workers of his Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
The case involves a "huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia" in Jharkhand, as per the central agency.
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