Chief Minister Hemant Soren, declared "missing" by the BJP after Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials failed to locate him for over 24 hours, surfaced in Ranchi today. Soren, who was last seen in Delhi on Sunday night, reached Ranchi today for a meeting with MLAs from the ruling coalition. The ED has issued several summons to the CM in connection with the money laundering case and had gone to Delhi to take legal consultation about ED summons.
As the Enforcement Directorate (ED) continued to keep a close watch on Delhi airport to trace Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, the 48-year-old Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader decided to make the 1,200km return trip to state capital Ranchi by road, people close to the chief minister said.
Sources said that Hemant Soren landed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport on Friday and was expected to fly out by another charter plane owned by a private firm. This aircraft landed at IGI on Saturday night and continues to remain parked at the airport. An ED team had been stationed at the Delhi airport in case he sought to fly back to Ranchi.
Soren reached Ranchi in the early hours of Tuesday and later, held a meeting of the ruling alliance lawmakers at the CM House to discuss the present political situation in the state. In photographs and videos shared by Hemant Soren’s office on X, a large number of MLAs and ministers were seen greeting Soren before taking part in the meeting. Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren was also present at the meeting.
Soren wasn’t at his south Delhi house when a team of ED officials reached at 7am on Monday. The federal agency searched the south Delhi house in Shanti Niketan on Monday and camped at the site for nearly 13 hours waiting for him. ED officials said they seized about Rs 36 lakh cash, a BMW SUV that is suspected to be registered under a benami name in Haryana and some documents from his Delhi residence.
Meanwhile, reappearance of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader comes amid frenetic political developments in Ranchi and Delhi. The BJP has claimed that the Chief Minister was "on the run". State BJP chief Babulal Marandi also put out an advertisement, seeking information about Soren and announcing a cash prize of Rs 11,000 for credible information.
The JMM, however, had maintained that they are in touch with the Chief Minister. JMM ally Congress alleged that the BJP's "missing" claim is a conspiracy to create a situation to impose President's rule in the state. Governor CP Radhakrishnan had said that he is keeping a close watch on the situation. "It is the job of the Governor, I am doing it. We will cross the bridge when it comes," he told reporters, adding that "no one is above the law".
Meanwhile, all MLAs of the ruling alliance - comprising JMM, Congress and RJD - have been asked to stay in Ranchi, sparking speculation over what comes next.
