Ranchi: How old is Hemant Soren actually?
Discrepancies in his affidavit have led to a massive controversy ahead of the Jharkhand Assembly elections.
In his nomination filed from Barhait constituency, Soren has mentioned his age to be 49. It does not tally with his 2019 election nomination affidavit, in which his age was shown to be 41.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was quick to point out that the CM had aged 7 years in the last 5 years!
Slamming Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and its CM, BJP mocked that JMM stands for ‘Jhol, Muslim appeasement and Mafia’.
“The JMM govt which has set new standards of corruption is now doing corruption in affidavits also. Mr Hemant Soren has aged 7 years in the last 5 years. Similarly, they did corruption and scams,” BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla said on Friday.
BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo said such age fraud “can only happen in Jharkhand.”
Gamaliel Hembram, BJP’s candidate from Barhait, has filed a complaint with Returning Officer Gautam Bhagat, demanding that Soren must clarify the discrepancy and specify which affidavit is correct.
“If his age in 2024 is correct, then it means he won the 2019 Assembly elections based on a wrong affidavit. If so, then who is responsible for this?” BJP questioned.
JMM dismissed the matter by saying that BJP has become distracted as everything is “crystal clear.”
Claiming that JMM will win the polls and form the government in Jharkhand again, Rajya Sabha MP and candidate from Ranchi Mahua Maji said that BJP raises all kinds of issues.
“They do not want to fight the election on the issue of development. They try to stab you in the back, but they will not succeed. We will win and form the government here,” Maji said.
Jharkhand will vote in two phases — on November 13 and 20 – to elect its 81 legislators.
Counting of votes will take place on November 23, along with Maharashtra Assembly poll and other byelections.