After days of high drama, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren will appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Ranchi on Wednesday for questioning in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.
The ED camped at his Delhi residence on Tuesday to question him but the chief minister was "untraceable". However, Hemant Soren reappeared hours later in Ranchi after undertaking a 1250-km journey by road from Delhi. In an email he sent to the ED officials, Soren had said that he would appear before the investigating agency on Wednesday afternoon.
On his arrival at Ranchi, Soren held two rounds of meetings of alliance legislators at the CM House to discuss the present political situation. In photographs and videos shared by Soren's office on X, MLAs and ministers were seen with Soren attending the meeting. Soren's wife Kalpana Soren, who is not a legislator, was also present at the meeting.
This comes amid speculations that Soren's wife Kalpana might take over as the chief minister if Soren is arrested by the ED. The BJP too had charged that Soren would hand over the baton to Kalpana, a move that has irked his family members. "His (CM Soren's) brother and sister-in-law have spoken to me. They are all sad that JMM was formed by Shibu Soren and Durga Soren but the CM wants to hand over charge to his wife - nobody is agreeing to that," BJP MP Nishikant Dubey told reporters on Tuesday.
However, the JMM legislators expressed solidarity with the Hemant Soren government at the meetings. They also signed a letter of support without any name, including Kalpana Soren's. "We are ready for what may come... The BJP is abusing central agencies to destabilise a democratically elected government but we will not allow them to succeed in their mission," Transport Minister and senior JMM leader Champai Soren told PTI.
Soren himself had earlier dismissed the rumours of making Kalpana the chief minister, though the rumours have strengthened now.
Hemant Soren's family has refused reports of a rift, hitting out at Nishikant Dubey. Reacting to Dubey's remarks of rifts, Basant Soren, brother of Hemant Soren, said that this is not the family of BJP MP where rifts keep on happening, adding that JMM is united on all issues. "Any decision that will be taken will have the party's and state's welfare in mind," Basant added.
Who is Kalpana Soren?
Kalpana, who has no political background, is originally from Odisha's Mayurbhanj district. She is an engineering graduate with a degree in MBA and now runs a school. Kalpana is also involved in organic farming and also a regular presence in women and children empowerment programmes.
Kalpana and Hemnat Sorent have two children -- Nikhil and Ansh.
She courted controversy in 2022 after former chief minister Raghubar Das accused Hemant Soren of misusing his position to allot a plot in an industrial area to a company owned by his wife.
However, Kalpana will have to clear a lot of legal hurdles before she takes over as the head of the state. The norms have that by-polls cannot be held if the term of the Assembly will expire in less than a year. 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.