Illegal mining case: Election Commission recommends disqualification of Jharkhand CM, say sources

The Election Commission of India has recommended the disqualification of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in connection with the illegal mining case.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has recommended the disqualification of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, sources in the Raj Bhavan told India Today. The EC has written back to Jharkhand governor Ramesh Bais who had sought its opinion over a complaint received by the opposition BJP that CM must be qualified as he allegedly holds an office-of-profit by getting a stone chips mining lease in his name.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislators have been summoned and asked to reach Ranchi by evening. There are no details of the opinion rendered to the Governor as of now. The opinion was sent to the Jharkhand Raj Bhavan in a sealed cover this morning, as per the sources.

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Governor Ramesh Bais, who is in Delhi since Monday on a personal visit, is due to return to Ranchi on Thursday. Disqualification of Hemant Soren would destabilise the government.

Earlier in the day, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Prem Prakash, an alleged close aide of Hemant Soren, a day after recovering 2 AK-47 rifles from his residence. Prem Prakash was arrested on Wednesday night after search operations in connection with the alleged illegal mining case.He was arrested from Ranchi under the provisions of the Money Laundering Act.

On Wednesday, ED raided multiple locations in Jharkhand as part of an ongoing money-laundering investigation into alleged illegal mining in the state.