Hemant Soren wins confidence vote, accuses BJP of 'stoking civil war to win polls'
PATNA: The Hemant Soren government won a vote of confidence in the Jharkhand Assembly on Monday. Fortyeight MLAs in the 81-member House voted in favour of the motion, but the Opposition BJP staged a walkout ahead of the vote.
During his speech ahead of the motion, Chief Minister Hemant Soren blamed the BJP for “conspiring to destabilise governments in states where it is not in power.” He said that the BJP had been attempting to create a “civil war-like scenario between states” and “stoking communal issues in the country” in order to win elections.
“As long as there is a UPA government in the state, they will not succeed in their design. They will get a befitting reply soon”, Soren, facing an office of profit case, said.
“The BJP is the party of businessmen. They have been trying to purchase MLAs of the ruling coalition but could not succeed in their attempts. They will be wiped out during the Lok Sabha elections”, he added.
Soren accused Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma of indulging in the “purchase” of UPA MLAs. The BJP and its ally All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) created a ruckus over the allegations and later staged a walkout ahead of the voting in the House.
During the debate, BJP members raised the issue of the state’s deteriorating law and order situation. “This whole thing is an eyewash. They are talking about seeking a trust vote but the Opposition never said that they don’t have a majority. It seems that he (Hemant Soren) doesn’t trust his MLAs. The MLAs were first sent to Raipur and later held captive in the circuit house when they returned”, former Jharkhand CM Babulal Marandi said while talking to reporters outside the Assembly.
“Nobody asked them to prove their majority on the floor of the House. We have been demanding action against him for misusing his position and transferring a mining lease in his name while being Chief Minister and also holding the mining portfolio. This is why we had demanded his disqualification from the Assembly”, Marandi added.
The confidence motion was tabled by Soren on Monday amid the ongoing political crisis created by the BJP after the Election Commission reportedly recommended his disqualification as an MLA.
On Sunday, legislators of the JMM-led coalition government returned to Ranchi after spending around a week at a private resort in Chhattisgarh. Sources said Soren met his MLAs at the circuit house in Ranchi, where they had spent Sunday night.
Jharkhand has been witnessing a political crisis after the EC sent a letter to governor Ramesh Bais on August 25. Though the EC’s decision has not yet been announced, there has been a buzz in political circles in Jharkhand that the poll panel has recommended the chief minister’s disqualification in a mine leasing case.
In February, former Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das led a delegation and submitted a memorandum to the governor seeking Mr Soren’s disqualification in the mine leasing case. The governor forwarded the BJP’s complaint to the Election Commission.
