“Why send summons, come and arrest me…”: Jharkhand CM Soren dares ED, Centre

Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday challenged the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to arrest him instead of sending summons to him for questioning.

Soren on Thursday was to appear before the ED in its regional office in Ranchi but he skipped his visit. Addressing the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) workers outside his official residence before leaving for Raipur to attend a tribal festival being organized by the Chhattisgarh government, Soren urged his party workers to be prepared for a long political fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“I have been summoned by ED today when I already have a programme in Chhattisgarh today. If I have committed a crime that big, come and arrest me. Why the questioning?… Security near the ED office has increased. Why, are you scared of people of Jharkhand?” said Soren, amidst heavy sloganeering in support from his party workers.

Soren said the federal agency, as a part of a larger conspiracy to destabilize his government which got a historic mandate in 2019, is trying to intimidate them by showing muscle power.

“We have identified a few external gangs in the state who are not letting the state’s Adivasis stand on their feet. This state will have the rule of Jharkhandis and not external forces… BJP will be wiped out in the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly polls,” Soren added.

Urging his workers to be ready for a political fight, Soren said they need to go back to villages and expose the “conspiracy of the BJP” to destabilise their government.

“We have not done anything yet. ‘Jab Jharkhandi apni cheezo pe utar aayega, toh wo din door nahi jahaan aap logon ko yahaan sar chhupaane ka mauka bhi nahi milega,” he said.

Soren also gave a call to the Adivasis of Gujarat to ensure that the BJP loses all tribal seats in the upcoming assembly elections.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was summoned by ED on Thursday for investigation over contravention of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and in a money laundering probe linked to an illegal mining case in the Sahebganj district.