HEMANT Soren on Wednesday resigned as Jharkhand Chief Minister while the ruling JMM-led coalition proposed the name of senior leader Champai Soren as new State head. The ED arrested JMM leader Hemant Soren after over seven hours of questioning on money laundering charges in an alleged land fraud case, official sources said. Soren tendered his resignation to Governor CP Radhak-rishnan at the Raj Bhawan after about 7 hours of questioning by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to a land scam. “Hemant Soren has resigned as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand.

 

The ruling JMM-Congress-RJD alliance has proposed the name of senior JMM leader Champai Soren (Jharkhand Transport Minister) as the new CM,” State Congress president Rajesh Thakur said. Earlier, the legislators gathered at the CM residence elected Champai Soren as the leader of the JMM legislative party. Party spokesperson Vinod Pandey said a general consensus was reached on Champai Soren. Earlier, there were speculations that Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana’s name could be proposed as the new CM. JMM legislative party leader Champai Soren said, “We have staked claim to form new Government, have support of 47 MLAs”. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Alamgir Alam said, we have handed over support letter from 43 MLAs to Governor who assured to call us. Earlier, the ED had recorded the statement of the 48-year-old Chief Minister on January 20 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The investigation pertains to a “huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia” in Jharkhand, according to the agency.

 

The ED has, so far, arrested 14 people in the case, including 2011-batch IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan who served as the director of the State’s Social Welfare Department and Deputy Commissioner of Ranchi. The ruling alliance proposed the senior Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader’s name as the new Chief Minister. Champai Soren, who played a crucial role in the movement for the creation of a separate State of Jharkhand, was chosen after incumbent Hemant Soren stepped down amid speculations of his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate. Soren has been a legislator from Serikela Assembly constituency for more than three decades since 1991 and is known to be a loyalist of JMM supremo Shibu Soren. Born in November 1956 at Jilinggora village in Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharsawan district, Soren is a matriculate and father of seven children. He is the son of a farmer and is not related to the Hemant Soren family.