Ruling JMM MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad resigned from the Jharkhand Assembly, according to a notification issued on Monday.
However, no reason was cited in the notification as to why the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislator of Gandey constituency put it in his papers.
Ahmad’s resignation as an MLA triggered speculations in the state political circles as it came just a day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued its seventh summons to Chief Minister and JMM executive president Hemant Soren, seeking his availability for questioning in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. The ED’s probe in this case reportedly pertains to alleged “huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia” in Jharkhand.
His resignation has sparked off speculations, with the BJP alleging that Ahmad was made to quit so that Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren could contest the assembly elections from Gandey seat.
The social media handle of Godda BJP MP Nishikant Dubey shared in X (formerly twitter) took a swipe at Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren over the sudden resignation of the MLA with claims that Soren would also resign soon.
“Jharkhand’s MLA from Gandey, Sarfaraz Ahmed, has resigned from the Assembly and his resignation has been accepted. Soon, Hemant Soren-ji will also resign from the post of chief minister and his wife, Kalpana Soren-ji, will take over as the next CM. The new year could bring pain to the Soren family,” Dubey posted from his official handle on X in Hindi.
Hemant Soren has been served as many as six summons by the ED so far and he has failed to turn up on every single occasion. Now, the central agency has asked the Jharkhand Chief Minister to record his statement under Section 50 of the PMLA Act.
The ED has summoned the chief minister for questioning in a money laundering case pertaining to land grabbing in the state.
Ahmad, 70, is a three-time MLA from Gandey. In 1980, he won the seat (in the then Bihar state) for the first time on the Congress’s ticket. In the wake of the creation of Jharkhand state, he won the seat again in 2009 as a Congress candidate.
Later, Ahmad quit the Congress and won from Gandey on the JMM’s ticket in the 2019 Assembly elections.
In the 1984 Lok Sabha elections, Ahmad had also won from the Giridih parliamentary seat on the Congress’s ticket.
CM replies to ED summons
Chief Minister Hemant Soren has sent the reply to the seventh notice (summons) of ED which is investigating money laundering in the land scam. The Chief Minister's office employee delivered the Chief Minister's reply in a closed envelope to the ED office on Tuesday afternoon. In the seventh summons to the Chief Minister, ED had written to inform the place, date and time for questioning, so that the questioning could be done, but the Chief Minister has sent the reply. There is no mention of place, date and time in it. The Chief Minister has termed the seventh summons as illegal. He has accused ED of conducting a media trial. He says that before he gets the summons, the news about the summons gets spread in the media. This is being done to tarnish his image and destabilize the government. If ED sources are to be believed, now the CM will not be given any further chance. ED is preparing for big action.
