Ruling UPA MLAs in Jharkhand on Friday met Governor Ramesh Bais and urged him to clear the air on the Election Commission’s opinion, if any, on the disqualification of chief minister Hemant Soren’s Assembly membership.
The MLAs handed over a memorandum to the Governor, in which they accused his office of encouraging “political brinkmanship to destabilise” the Jharkhand government by selectively leaking input information related to the EC recommendation.
“This also encourages political brinkmanship to destabilize the democratically elected government headed by Hemant Soren Ji, the chief minister by illegal means,” the memorandum reads.
It further stated, “Although your excellency is yet to declare the opinion which is given in confidence to you by the election commission, BJP which is the largest opposition party in the state has made public the opinion and is demanding the resignation of the CM, mid-term poll etc.”
The UPA delegation, in its memorandum, said that there will have no bearing on the coalition government even if the chief minister is disqualified from the Legislative Assembly.
“With a heavy heart, we request your excellency to clear the air which will not only put at rest the confusion but also end efforts to destabilise the democratically-elected government by illicit means,” the delegation members requested the Governor.
“We request you to declare the opinion received (if any) from the election commission forthwith. Prompt action on your excellency’s part will serve the cause of democracy and further delay will be against the Constitution duties and values which your excellency’s august office is expected to uphold.”
After meeting the UPA delegation, Governor Bais reportedly left for New Delhi, apparently to consult with the Centre over this issue.
Incidentally, political activities have increased in Jharkhand in recent days in the backdrop of media reports stating that the Governor has disqualified CM Soren as an MLA in an office-of-profit case. Though Governor’s order disqualifying Soren from the membership of Jharkhand Assembly has not been made public yet.
Last week, Soren took UPA MLAs for a boat ride in a dam nearly 30-km far from capital Ranchi amid a series of meetings. On Thursday, the state Cabinet approved a proposal to hire a chartered jet for Rs 2 crore, which many believe is for ferrying UPA MLAs to and from Ranchi and Raipur.
The flurry of political activities is seen as part of the Soren government’s attempts to pre-empt BJP’s alleged move to poach the UPA legislators in order to bring down the coalition regime.