Jharkhand CM replies to 7th summon, accuses ED of bias, media trial

Hemant rules out possibility of wife contesting election

Ranchi, January 2: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has issued a strong response to the seventh summons from the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The special messenger from the chief minister secretariat handed over a sealed three-page letter at the ED office on Tuesday afternoon.

As per sources in the ED Soren criticised the Enforcement Directorate’s investigation, labelling it ‘biased’, and accusing the agency of engaging in a media trial against him.

The ED has intensified its scrutiny of Hemant Soren after fresh allegations of corruption and financial irregularities were levelled against the Jharkhand Chief Minister.

The recent summons pertains to a money laundering case involving a land deal. The agency had in the seventh summon extended the courtesy of allowing Soren to chose a date, time and place for questioning regarding the probe.

 Expressing his dissatisfaction with the ongoing proceedings, Hemant Soren claimed that the Enforcement Directorate’s investigation is not “grounded in pursuit of truth” but rather is a targeted ploy against him. He further expressed his displeasure with the alleged media trial orchestrated by the agency, suggesting that its objective is to tarnish his image and discredit his work in the political arena

 Meanwhile on Tuesday evening, Hemant Soren dismissed speculations of his wife Kalpana Soren contesting from Gandey assembly constituency in the state and termed it as a “complete imagination” of the BJP.

 There is not an iota of truth in the speculations, Soren told a national news agency.

Possibility of my wife contesting in near future is a complete imagination of the BJP… Speculations about handing over reins to her is a fabric woven by the BJP to build a false narrative,” he said.

The speculations were triggered by the Enforcement Directorate’s recent summons to the chief minister coupled with the sudden resignation by the ruling JMM’s Gandey MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad on Monday