Sita Soren opposes any move to make Hemant’s wife Kalpana as Jharkhand CM
The remarks by Sita, who is also the elder sister-in-law of Hemant, comes a day after his younger brother, Basant Soren, said there was no rift in the family over the issue
Jharkhand lawmaker Sita Soren on Wednesday said she would object any move to project chief minister Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren as the CM probable amid a political crisis in the state over the Enforcement directorate’s summons to the CM for questioning in an alleged land scam and related cases. The remark by Sita, who is also the elder sister-in-law of Hemant, comes a day after his younger brother, Basant Soren, said there was no rift in the family over the issue.
“I would like to ask why only Kalpana Soren (for the CM’s post), who is not even an MLA and has no political experience,” Sita, the Jama legislator who has been an MLA for around 14 years, told news agency PTI.
Kalpana Soren was also not present at the meeting of alliance legislators at the CM’s residence on Tuesday night and photos were also shared by the Chief Minister’s Office, said Sita, who is the elder daughter-in-law of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) supremo Shibu Soren. “I will strongly protest any move to make her (Kalpana) CM...,” she said.
“There are several senior leaders in the party, who could be given the rein. If they wanted to elect from a family, I am the senior-most in the house and have been an MLA for around 14 years,” said the widow of Hemant’s elder brother and former legislator Durga Soren.
Speaking to news agency, ANI on Tuesday, Dumka MLA, Basant Soren, had ruled out any rift in the family. “Our family is united. The decision that is good for the party and the state’s welfare will be taken,” he had said.
Earlier this month, Hemant Soren had dismissed speculations of his wife contesting from Gandey assembly constituency and had termed it as a “complete imagination” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“The possibility of my wife contesting in the near future is a complete imagination of the BJP... The speculation about handing over reins to her is a fabric woven by the BJP to build a false narrative,” the chief minister had said.
The speculations of Kalpana taking over as the CM were triggered after the sudden resignation by the ruling JMM’s Gandey MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad in December.
The opposition BJP has claimed that Ahmad was made to quit so that the chief minister’s wife could contest from Gandey in case of any eventuality in connection with the ED summonses.
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.
