Jharkhand Floor Test Live Updates: Arrested Hemant Soren brought to state assembly as court allows him the right to vote

The Jharkhand assembly will hold a trust vote on Monday for the recently formed Champai Soren government. Hemant Soren, the chief of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), resigned as chief minister and was detained by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 31 in relation to a money laundering case, causing a political crisis in the state. Following this, on February 1, Governor C P Radhakrishnan named Champai Soren, the leader of the JMM and state minister of transportation, as the Chief Minister-designate, thereby staking claim to form the government.

13:07 (IST)05 FEB 2024

“BJP doesn’t want a tribal CM to complete 5 years in Jharkhand, they did not allow this in their regimes,” said Hemant Soren in the state assembly.

12:46 (IST)05 FEB 2024

‘I will resign from politics if they show me any records of my ownership of the 8.3 acres of land. Agar hai himmat to dikhaaye (If you have courage then show it, prove it‘ said Hemant Soren in the Jharkhand Assembly today.

“We have not yet accepted defeat. If they think they can succeed by putting me behind bars, this is Jharkhand where many people have laid down their lives. I will not shed tears, but give a befitting reply to ”feudal forces” at appropriate time,” he said.

Soren was arrested after he had ignored eight out of ten ED summonses; the most recent one was on Monday. Before authorities could question him in his Delhi home as part of the ED’s investigation into a “huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia” in Jharkhand, Soren allegedly “disappeared.”

 12:35 (IST)05 FEB 2024

“This dark night is deeply embedded in the democracy of the country. On January 31, a CM in the country was arrested. And somewhere the Raj Bhawan had a role to play in this incident,” said Hemant Soren, as he addressed the Jhakhand state assembly on Monday.

After Hemant Soren resigned from his position as CM, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) detained him on January 31 in relation to a money laundering case. Champai Soren, the leader of the JMM and the state minister of transportation, then declared his intention to form a government and was named chief minister by the governor on February 2. In the meantime, the court has granted Hemant Soren permission to take part in today’s floor test of the Champai Soren-led state assembly government.

12:26 (IST)05 FEB 2024

‘I am the student of Shibu Soren who taught me during the Jharkhand Andolan. Today, wherever you go, you will see Hemant Soren’s schemes. He lit a diya in everyone’s heart. This cannot be undone,’ said CM Champai Soren in the state assembly as he moved a confidence motion for his government.

“Today the whole country is seeing how injustice is being done to Hemant Soren. If you go to any village, you will find Hemant Soren’s schemes in every house,” he said.

“ED confiscated BJP’s Bhanu Pratap Shahi’s land to the tune of Rs 7 crore, but since he is in BJP now nothing will happen to him. But where there is no record on Hemant Soren ownership, but he has been made an accused,” he asserted.

11:37 (IST)05 FEB 2024

Ahead of the Champai Soren-led government’s floor test today, legislators began to demonstrate during the governor’s speech in the Jharkhand Assembly house.

11:34 (IST)05 FEB 2024

‘Four years ago this government got a mandate to make the lives of the people happy and prosperous and bring all-round development in the state. During this period the government has tried its. best to meet the people’s expectations and have a corruption-free state,’ Jharkhand Governor C. P. Radhakrishnan said today.

‘The government focused on bringing a clean administration and focusing on getting people’s participation. A total of 56 public servants have been arrested for corruption in Jharkhand in 2023. According to CPR, in 2023, more than 400 ‘naxals’ were arrested,” he said in his address.

11:23 (IST)05 FEB 2024

Governor C. P. Radhakrishnan addresses the house amid slogans of “Hemant Soren zindabad.”

 11:11 (IST)05 FEB 2024

The proceedings of Jharkhand House have commenced. The governor of Jharkhand, CP Radhakrishnan, will soon address the House.

11:10 (IST)05 FEB 2024

In the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, the ruling coalition currently has 47 MLAs after Gandey MLA Sarfaraz Ahmed resigned on January 2, allegedly to make room for Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana, as the former chief minister’s arrest appeared imminent. Allies Congress and RJD have 17 and one MLA each, while the JMM has 29 MLAs. According to sources, Vinod Singh, the sole member of the CPI(ML), has also offered the coalition his support.

11:08 (IST)05 FEB 2024

The JMM-led alliance MLAs reached the Jharkhand assembly on Monday to participate in floor test of Champai Soren government.

11:03 (IST)05 FEB 2024

Chief Minister of Jharkhand Champai Soren arrived at the state assembly on Monday before his government’s floor test.

10:58 (IST)05 FEB 2024

Hemant Soren, the former chief minister of Jharkhand, was granted permission by a special court to take part in today’s trust vote, and he arrived at the Jharkhand Assembly in Ranchi on Monday.

10:47 (IST)05 FEB 2024

Speaking during the floor test today to demonstrate the government led by CM Champai Soren and the brother of former CM Hemant Soren, JMM MLA Basant Soren said, “I think everyone can see our unity. We stand strongly with Hemant Soren. People have understood the dirty game of BJP and how the tribal leader of this state was forcefully removed.”

10:24 (IST)05 FEB 2024

Leader of the Opposition and BJP leader Amar Kumar Bauri stated prior to today’s trust vote in the Jharkhand assembly,“ Instead of fulfilling the promises they (JMM-led alliance government) had made, they prioritised corruption…We hope he (Champai Soren) will fulfil the promises for which they were elected…Their (JMM and Congress) MLAs were kept in custody for three days. Today in the Assembly, we want to know what their (MLAs) conscience will say…”

10:15 (IST)05 FEB 2024

The Jharkhand prior to the government led by Chief Minister Champai Soren’s floor test today, BJP MLAs made their way to the State Assembly in Ranchi on Monday.

09:37 (IST)05 FEB 2024

The state BJP spokesperson, Pratul Shah Deo, attacked former Chief Minister Hemant Soren prior to today’s Jharkhand assembly floor test. Deo asserted that Soren’s 40-hour “while on the run” communication break with senior state officials embarrassed Jharkhand both domestically and globally.

“Whatever the result of the confidence motion, one thing is clear: Jharkhand has lost. The way Jharkhand was humiliated in front of the national and international community is absolutely shocking. A CM was a fugitive on the run for 40 hours without any trace, without any contact with the top officials of the state. The people of the state were left at their own mercy and the way the CM was accused of Rs 70,000 crore corruption, he had to step down, he was then arrested…” said BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo.