Hemant Soren to chair INDIA bloc meeting today

Five days after coming out of jail, former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren is scheduled to preside over a meeting of INDIA bloc legislators on Wednesday, 3 July MLAs of the alliance said.

Soren, the executive president of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), was released from jail on 28 June after the high court granted him bail in a money laundering case linked to a land scam.

"We were asked by our party to attend a meeting of INDIA bloc legislators on Wednesday in view of the Jharkhand assembly elections," a Congress MLA who did not wish to be quoted told PTI.

The legislator said the meeting is crucial as the alliance needs to chalk out its strategy for the polls due to be held later this year.

JMM minister Mithilesh Kumar also said the meeting has been convened to discuss strategies for the upcoming assembly elections.

Meanwhile, speculations are rife that leadership issues may also be taken up in the meeting as following Hemant Soren's arrest by the ED, his close associate Champai Soren was handed over the reins of the state.

JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey said the agenda of the meeting is "political developments" in the state.

Apart from Chief Minister Champai Soren, Hemant Soren's brother and minister Basant Soren and wife Kalpana Soren are likely to attend the meeting.

Kalpana was recently elected as an MLA from Gandey seat winning the bypoll after the seat fell vacant following the resignation of JMM MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad.

In his first public rally after release from jail, Hemant Soren had claimed that the BJP is planning to advance assembly elections in Jharkhand.

He also declared a “rebellion” against “feudal forces”, asserting that the opposition INDIA bloc would drive out the BJP from across the country.

Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 31 January in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.