Let time come, CM Soren will be present before ED and answer: Jharkhand minister Banna Gupta

Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], January 30 (ANI): Jharkhand minister Banna Gupta has said that Chief Minister Hemant Soren will be in front of the Directorate of Enofrocement as per the set time limit.

“The Chief Minister is in the hearts of the people of Jharkhand and he has said that he will answer all the questions of ED within the time limit. So let the time come, he will be present and will answer,” said Gupta.

On being asked about the action of ED against the Jharkhand Chierf Minister, Gupta said, “I do not want to attack any constitutional institution and speak in vain on what they (ED) are doing or not doing.”

“Everything has to come into the court of the public; the public has to see it; the public is sovereign. In a democracy, the public is the master and the sets the narrative as to what is happening to whom and what is not happening, why it is happening, under what circumstances and for what purposes it is happening,” he said.

“When they (ED) have decided that they have to know, they have to ask and it is their constitutional right to ask. The Chief Minister has also said that it is okay, if you want to know, you want to ask, we are present before you. Will speak and tell,” he added.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren during the day chaired a meeting with ministers of his ruling coalition amid allegations by the BJP that the JMM chief was “absconding” to avoid the Enforcement Directorate’s probe into an alleged land scam case.

The chief of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) was seen coming out of his residence in Ranchi today ahead of the meeting.

On Monday, officials from the ED had visited Soren’s residence in Delhi to question him. The central agency seized two cars and Rs 36 lakh but did not find the JMM leader.

Following this, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey alleged that the Jharkhand CM was a “bhagoda” (on the run) and that there was a proposal to make Soren’s wife Chief Minister of the state.

In a post on social media platform X, Dubey said, “Hemant Soren ji has called his own, JMM, Congress and allied MLAs to reach Ranchi with their luggage and bags. According to the information, there is a proposal to make Kalpana Soren ji (Hemant Soren’s wife) Chief Minister.”

As per sources, the ED had issued a fresh summons to Soren, asking him to be available for questioning on January 29 or 31, or else the agency itself will go to him for questioning. This is the tenth summons issued to the Jharkhand Chief Minister, by the ED.

Soren, in a letter to the Enforcement Directorate, said he will record his statement before the agency officials at 1 pm on Wednesday, January 31 at his residence in Ranchi.

The Jharkhand chief minister alleged that questioning him at this time was more political and was meant to disrupt the functioning of his government.

Questioning by the ED at a time when the Budget Session of the Legislative Assembly is scheduled (February 2- 29) “reeks of malice” and “reveals your political agenda to disrupt the functioning of the State Government and prevent an elected representative of the people from discharging his official duties,” the letter read.

Section 144 CrPc was imposed within a 100-metre radius of CM Soren’s residence, Raj Bhavan and ED office in Ranchi.