Jharkhand

On August 17, the Supreme Court had stayed the proceedings before the Jharkhand High Court on PILs filed against Chief Minister Hemant Soren alleging money laundering shell companies and irregularities while granting mining leases, and also reserved its verdict on pleas filed by the state government and Soren challenging maintainability of PILs before high court.

"Hemant Soren has been called to join the investigation for Thursday. He will have to appear at our Ranchi office by 11 a.m. tomorrow," an ED source said. In this case, the ED has raided more than 30 places since May. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has reacted strongly to the summons, calling it a conspiracy to destabilise the democratically elected government.

"Hemant Soren has been called to join the investigation for Thursday. He will have to appear at our Ranchi office by 11 a.m. tomorrow," the source said.The ED had recently filed a charge sheet before a Special Ranchi court against Pankaj Mishra, a close aide of Soren, and Bachhu Yadav and Prem Prakash who are also said to be close to the Jharkhand CM.

A board has been placed on the side of a clean road at the entrance of the village, displaying the rules which are - 'Shramdan', 'Nashabandi', ban on open defecation, prohibition on leaving cattle unattended, ban on cutting trees and plants, ban on dowry system, plastic ban and deep boring ban. These are the rules, which the people of the village had imposed on themselves about five years ago with mutual consent.

Soren got 48 votes, while the BJP walked out during the House proceedings. Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Hemant Soren tabled a confidence motion in the Jharkhand Assembly. He claimed that the BJP was attempting to poach UPA MLAs, which prompted him to take the step. The Chief Minister lambasted the BJP for creating uncertainty in the state.

When Ayushman Patra objected to her conducts towards their maid, Seema declared that her son is mentally unstable, put chain on his hands and forcefully got him admitted to the Ranchi Institute of Neuro-Psychiatry and Allied Sciences.

Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday tweeted in Hindi, "The savagery treatment meted out to Ankita and her death has made every Indian's head hang in shame, she and her family will get justice when the perpetrators of the crime will get severe punishment as fast as possible.

Earlier in the day, the JMM-led coalition held a meeting at the Chief Minister's house to decide their strategy and future course of action. This was the fourth meeting of the coalition in the past three days. The meeting was attended by 42 MLAs including Soren, Rameshwar Oraon, Alamgir Alam. The political crisis in the state started after the Election Commission disqualified the Assembly membership of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in connection with the office of profit case.

In February this year, senior BJP leader and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das had alleged that Soren had got a mining lease issued for himself, which was clear violation of the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. It was alleged that Soren hid this fact in his affidavit submitted at the time of contesting the Assembly elections in 2019.

The development has given rise to speculation that Soren might tender his resignation from the post of Chief Minister soon. Soren found himself in the midst of a fresh crisis after the BJP complained to Governor Ramesh Bais about a stone quarry that he had taken on lease on his name even as he was holding the office of Chief Minister.