JMM urges ECI for early by-election at Gandey

BJP claims by-poll not possible

Ranchi, January 5: The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) on Friday urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to conduct a by-election to the Gandey assembly seat “at the earliest”.

The seat has fallen vacant after JMM legislator Sarfaraj Ahmad resigned from the assembly on December 31. A notification in this regard was issued by the assembly secretariat on January 1.

A six-member delegation of the JMM led by party general secretaries Vinod Pandey and Supriyo Bhattacharya visited the office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar during the day and submitted a memorandum to him with a request to conduct the by-election.

Later, Pandey told reporters, “We urged him to conduct the by-election to Gandey assembly seat within six months (from the date of resignation). The seat has fallen vacant after party MLA Sarfaraj Ahmad put down his papers.” According to Section 151A of the Representation of People Act, 1951, there is a provision to hold a by-election within six months in case the tenure of the assembly is more than one year, he said.

“The first session of the fifth Jharkhand Assembly was convened on January 6, 2020. According to Article 172 of the Constitution of India, the tenure of the fifth Jharkhand Assembly is till January 5, 2025,” the JMM said in its memorandum.

Pandey said that since more than one year is left in the tenure of the fifth assembly, the by-election should be conducted within six months.

“The CEO assured us that our request would be forwarded to the ECI and whatever guideline is received from the commission will be followed,” he said.

Earlier, BJP MP from Godda constituency, Nishikant Dubey, in an X post, had said that with assembly elections in Jharkhand due in less than a year, by-election to Gandey cannot be conducted now.

The opposition BJP has claimed that Ahmad was made to quit so that the chief minister’s wife Kalpana Soren could contest from the Gandey seat in case of any eventuality in connection with the ED summonses.

Soren has been in the eye of a political storm after the ED summonses in an alleged corruption case involving an office of profit case. Besides, the Election Commission had sent a letter to the then governor of Jharkhand Ramesh Bais in August 2022 which is believed to have recommended his disqualification as an MLA as a mining lease given to him was renewed during his tenure as the state’s chief minister.

However, neither Bais nor his successor CP Radhakrishnan opened that letter.

According to a close aide of the chief minister, making the Gandey seat vacant is a “masterstroke”.

Elaborating, he said that there are chances that the governor would open the letter during the ED’s questioning of Soren and give the mandatory permission to the agency to act against the chief minister.

If Soren has to relinquish his membership in the assembly, he can continue as the CM for six months without being elected. After that period is over, the provision for holding a by-election will not exist as Assembly polls are due in November-December. So, effectively Soren will continue as the chief minister till the next assembly elections, he said.

In case Soren decides to contest the by-poll, he would do it from Gandey and not his present constituency Barhati as that would send a “wrong signal” to the people, he said.

“Without any armour, he (Soren) would have been trapped. The CM wants to give a message that you (central agencies) do whatever you want to do but I am ready,” Soren’s close associate said