JMM MLA’s surprise resignation sparks buzz as ED keeps up heat on CM Soren

The Assembly secretariat’s notification said: “As a result of the acceptance of the (MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad’s) resignation letter by the Speaker, Jharkhand Legislative Assembly…the above mentioned place (Gandey constituency) in the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly has become vacant with effect from December 31.”

Ahmad was not available for his comment despite repeated attempts to contact him. JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya also refrained from making any comment, saying he was currently out of the state.

Ahmad, however, told PTI, “I have tendered my resignation due to personal reasons.”

When reached for his reaction, Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato told The Indian Express: “I did not ask (Ahmad ) for any reason because he is politically an astute person and he resigned Sunday. I took his resignation letter and accepted it.”

Ahmad, 70, is a three-time MLA from Gandey. In 1980, he won the seat (in the then Bihar state) for the first time on the Congress’s ticket. In the wake of the creation of Jharkhand state, he won the seat again in 2009 as a Congress candidate.

Later, Ahmad quit the Congress and won from Gandey on the JMM’s ticket in the 2019 Assembly elections.

In the 1984 Lok Sabha elections, Ahmad had also won from the Giridih parliamentary seat on the Congress’s ticket.

Ahmad’s resignation as an MLA triggered speculations in the state political circles as it came just a day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued its seventh summons to Chief Minister and JMM executive president Hemant Soren, seeking his availability for questioning in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. The ED’s probe in this case reportedly pertains to alleged “huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia” in Jharkhand.

State BJP reportedly alleged that Ahmad was made to quit to facilitate CM Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren to contest the bypoll from Gandey so that she could become the CM in the wake of any eventuality arising out of the ED’s investigations.

In response to the ED’s sixth summons on December 12, Soren had sent a letter to the agency, stating that in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s preliminary inquiry – based on a complaint lodged with the Lokpal – all his assets and those of his family had been disclosed.

Soren also said he was being called in for questioning by the ED only because “he doesn’t belong to any political party in power at the Centre”. “Issuance of repeated summons is actually malice and part of a political conspiracy to destabilise a democratically elected government. The undersigned shall readily provide any information or documents which you may bona fide require and which are not already available with you, provided you are entitled to seek the same in accordance with law,” the CM wrote to the ED.

On its part, the ED has maintained that “the issue is not about disclosure of personal assets of Hemant Soren but about investigation of the assets representing proceeds of crime (in land scam case)”.

JMM sources said, “One of the reasons for Ahmad’s move to leave the Gandey seat vacant could be that in case there is any action on Soren and if a situation arises that Soren would have to step down as the CM, then any non-legislator who replaces him could fight the bypoll from Gandey within six months. However, this is all speculation and possibly part of the party’s permutation and combination similar to what we had done preparing for a crisis in 2022 when the Election Commission had sent its opinion on the CM in the case of his owning a mining lease.” The EC’s letter has not been made public till date.

On various speculations, Speaker Mahato said: “I cannot comment on people’s imagination and stories. Baat ka batangad bana ke koi faida nahi hai (There is no point in making stories).”

The Jharkhand Assembly has 81 elected members and one nominated member.

Ahmad’s resignation would not make any difference to the stability of the Soren-led ruling UPA, which now has 47 MLAs, including the JMM’s 29, Congress’s 17 and RJD’s1.

The Opposition BJP-led NDA has 29 MLAs, including the BJP’s 26 and the AJSU Party’s 3.

The Jharkhand Assembly elections are due in November-December this year.