Nishikant Dubey, BJP’s Member of Parliament from Jharkhand, on Friday said mid-term polls were the only option in the state once Chief Minister Hemant Soren was disqualified as an MLA — as recommended by the Election Commission — for violating electoral law by extending a mining lease to himself.
Responding to the probability of Soren making any of his family members the chief minister in his place, Dubey said: “Soren has the option to make anyone CM — Bhabhi ji, chachi ji, Dawood Ibrahim or Prem Prakash. But the technical glitch is that it is not possible to have elections on that seat in six months.”
He added: “The exercise to update voters’ list is going on in the state right now. This exercise will be completed in January and it will take another month to invite suggestions, objections. It will be March when the Election Commission can hold elections on the CM’s seat. The time to hold elections in six months will lapse.”
The MP said he was speaking about the possibility of mid-term polls — which his party also wants — before the chief minister’s resignation and the decision of the Governor.
“I am making it very clear that CM hasn’t resigned. Governor hasn’t announced his decision yet. I am declaring all this because we don’t want JMM to accuse BJP or Governor or say anything about Election Commission,” said Dubey.
He added: “Soren may go to Latehar or Switzerland as he will have six months before he can contest. I believe he will lose his membership. I would have more clarity once the Governor declares the decision.”
On his tweet about JMM MLAs being taken in buses to Chhattisgarh, Dubey said: “Suchna suchna hoti hai. They can say they have mole in JMM.”
The BJP MP has also dared Soren to fight out the corruption charges in the midst of people. “If a leader goes on charges of corruption, the tag sticks. I dare JMM to fight us in the middle of people and if they vote for them again, we will never accuse JMM of anything and won’t oppose them ever,” Dubey said.
The BJP leader believes that the charges of corruption on Hemant Soren also cast a shadow on Congress, its ally in the state, and the Grand Old Party will be extinguished from Jharkhand.
However, he maintains that the Governor needs to make some kind of announcement on the developments first before anything can be said.
There could be a possible disqualification of Soren in the office-for-profit case against him. With the state in a political flux, the CM has called a meeting of MLAs of all allies to chalk out the strategy.
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