The Congress on Thursday said it will welcome the Election Commission's decision on a plea seeking Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's disqualification as an MLA while accusing the BJP of trying to destabilize the state government from day one.
The Election Commission (EC) is believed to have told Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais that Soren should be disqualified as an MLA for violating electoral norms, Raj Bhavan sources said. However, the Raj Bhavan has officially not confirmed the development. Reacting to the development, AICC general secretary in charge of Jharkhand Avinash Pande said the Congress will welcome whatever decision the Election Commission takes on the matter.
"However, it is not hidden from anyone that from the day the 'Mahagathbandhan' government was formed in Jharkhand, the BJP has been making efforts to weaken and displace it including by misusing constitutional institutions such as the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Investigation and others... It is trying to create obstacles in development work using the constitutional institutions," he said.
"After the decision, all alliance partners will hold discussions and devise a strategy on the way forward," Pande said. "We want our bigger alliance partner to take all constituents (of the government) with it in a respectable manner and move towards fulfilling our promise to the people to serve them for five years. As far as the Congress legislative party is concerned, it is united," he added.
The EC sent its opinion to Governor Bais earlier this morning on the plea seeking Soren's disqualification for violating electoral norms by extending a mining lease to himself.
The Jharkhand government consists of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) which has 30 MLAs in the 81-member Assembly, the Congress with 17 legislators, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) with one. The main opposition BJP has 26 MLAs in the House.
