Hemant Soren fell victim to a conspiracy: Jharkhand CM

Ranchi, Feb 6 (PTI) Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren on Tuesday claimed that his predecessor Hemant Soren fell victim to a conspiracy.

“His government was given a mandate for five years… However, a conspiracy was hatched against Hemant Babu and the government was toppled in four years,” Soren told reporters at the assembly here.

The leadership has undergone a change, but the JMM-led alliance will continue to take forward the schemes launched by Hemant Soren, he said.

“I have to complete the unfinished schemes of Hemant Babu,” Champai Soren said.

On cabinet expansion, he said: “It will happen soon.”

Meanwhile, Congress Legislature Party leader Alamgir Alam said talks about the cabinet expansion were underway.

Asked about any decision on Congress ministers in the JMM-led coalition, he said a decision on this will be taken by the party leadership in Delhi.

Alam said the budget session of the Jharkhand Assembly was likely to take place from February 23.

Jharkhand’s JMM-led alliance government headed by Chief Minister Champai Soren won the vote of confidence on Monday, after getting 47 votes in the 81-member assembly, while 29 legislators voted against the motion and Independent legislator Saryu Roy abstained.

Seventy-seven MLAs were present in the assembly during the voting, in which former chief minister Hemant Soren also took part.

Hemant Soren was arrested by the ED, shortly after his resignation as the chief minister on January 31 in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.