JMM Leadership Will Decide On Kalpana Soren Assembly Bye Poll Candidature, Says Jharkhand CM Champai Soren

Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren on Tuesday said that the ruling JMM will take a final call on the candidature of Kalpana Soren, jailed former chief minister Hemant Soren’s wife, from the Gandey Assembly seat in a week.

The decision whether Kalpana will be made the chief minister in case she contests and wins will lie with the JMM, Champai Soren, 68, said.

The by-poll to Gandey will be held on May 20 along with parliamentary elections in the state. The seat in Giridih district fell vacant after the resignation of JMM MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad and speculations are rife that Kalpana may be fielded from there. “The JMM will take a final call in a week if Kalpana Soren will be fielded from the Gandey Assembly seat. If she contests and wins, the final decision on whether she will be made the chief minister will be taken by the party leaders including president Shibu Soren, Hemant Soren and others,” the Chief Minister said.

Claiming that “injustice” was done to Hemant Soren, who was arrested by the ED in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam, the Chief Minister said BJP-led forces may have succeeded in putting him behind bars but the tribals of Jharkhand will show the BJP the exit door in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls... We are more than confident of winning all 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

To a query whether JMM will field Hemant Soren from the Dumka seat against BJP nominee Sita Soren, former three-term JMM MLA and elder-daughter-in-law of Shibu Soren, he said the party will take a call on this soon.

He dismissed Sita’s allegations that she was subjected to neglect and isolation in JMM, saying the party made her MLA thrice. Sita joined the saffron party last month, alleging she and her family were neglected and isolated after her husband Durga Soren’s demise in 2009.