Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has skipped the Enforcement Directorate summons today in relation to a case of alleged illegal mining. Outlook had previously reported that the CM will be skipping the summons today and is going to Chhattisgarh to attend a tribal programme instead.
"The ED has summoned me following a conspiracy. Come and arrest me if I have committed a crime instead of sending a summons for questioning," Soren said after skipping the summons.
“I am neither afraid nor worried. Rather I am emerging stronger. If people of Jharkhand wish, opponents will not find a place to hide," Soren said while addressing JMM workers near his residence, reports PTI.
Advertisement
“The Chief Minister is leaving for Raipur today to attend some tribal festival. And he is not going to attend ED office today,” sources had previously told Outlook on condition of anonymity. The ED had asked Soren to appear for questioning at its regional office here at 11 am but he did not go there.
The CHhief Minister was about to present himself in ED office at Hinoo, Ranchi following the summon by the central probe agency in a case related to illegality in mining.
The sources also said that the Chief Minister has asked the JMM workers to gather at Hinoo, the ED office; Hermu, the BJP office and Morabadi ground on November 5 in numbers to protest the efforts of the centre to topple his government.
Advertisement
While speaking to Outlook, Mustaq Alam, the JMM district president of Ranchi said, "Today we will be meeting at Morabadi Maidan to formulate the future strategies. We are not avoiding any legal process. But they should have informed the Chief Minister earlier. He is a busy person and has his schedules fixed."
Supriyo Bhattacharya, the spokesperson of Jharhand Mukti Morcha yesterday in a statement said, “The conspiracy started in 2020 itself. The opposition is using the central agency to encroach into governance and destabilise the government. They want to rob the mandate of 2019, which was historic in the two-decade history of Jharkhand. We are prepared to give them adequate reply and launch a street-to-assembly fight akin to what we did during the Jharkhand movement, which is still remembered by people.”
While speaking to Outlook, one of the active members of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha said, “This time we are not going to leave it. We will take the fights to the streets.”
Notably, Soren has already called a one-day special assembly session on November 11 to pass the bill related to the demarcation of Jharkhandi identity as per 1932 land survey.
In an unprecedented move, public relation department of Jharkhand government yesterday released a list of events that the CM is about to attend in between November 3 to 13. He is going to attend ‘Aapke Dwar Sarkar’ programme of the government in different districts through which free covid vaccine would be distributed among people.
