ED Arrests Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren; Champai Soren Named His Successor; All Eyes On Governor

Ranchi: Soon after his latest questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) ended on Wednesday evening, Hemant Soren submitted his resigned as chief minister of Jharkhand to state Governor CP Radhakrishnan.

Sometime later, ED arrested Hemant at 9.35 pm under PMLA, reported India Today. He will be produced in court on Thursday.

There was speculation that Hemant could be put under house arrest. But as of now, ED has taken the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief to its office.

He is the first sitting chief minister to be arrested.

Soren was interrogated for more than seven hours in connection with an alleged land scam. ED has been probing a “huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia” in Jharkhand.

JMM named Champai Soren as Hemant’s successor in the hot seat.

But all eyes are on the Governor. The JMM-headed ruling alliance, which includes Congress and RJD, have reportedly given a letter to the Governor with 41 signatures. That’s a simple majority in the 81-member Assembly.

JMM leaders are ready to parade with their MLAs to prove their majority. The Governor is yet to give them time.

So Jharkhand is without a CM at this point of time.

“Chief Minister Hemant Soren has decided to resign. Champai Soren has been chosen as the new leader of the Legislative party… All the MLAs are with us,” Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur said.

Congress MLA Dipika Pandey Singh accused the Raj Bhawan of working as an ‘agent of BJP.’

Who Is Champai Soren?

The 67-year-old Champai was Minister of Transport, Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Caste & Backward Class Welfare in Hemant’s cabinet.

A vice-president of JMM, Champai is an MLA from Jharkhand’s Seraikella constituency.