With Jharkhand’s ruling party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MLA Sarfaraz Ahmed leaving the legislature, there is a strong discussion that state Chief Minister Hemant Soren can now make his wife Kalpana Soren the Chief Minister. Because the sword of arrest has started hanging over them.
Actually, he has received summons from ED for the seventh and last time, the last date of which has also ended.
Due to this development, there is a heated discussion in the political circles of Jharkhand that in case of arrest by ED, Chief Minister Hemant Soren can resign from the post and make his wife Kalpana Soren the Chief Minister.
BJP’s Godda MP Nishikant Dubey has also expressed his doubt by tweeting but there are many obstacles in the way of Kalpana becoming the CM.
Cannot contest elections from husband’s seat
Actually, Kalpana Soren is not a member of Jharkhand Assembly. In such a situation, if she is made the Chief Minister, she will have to take membership of the Assembly within six months.
Her husband Hemant Soren is currently the MLA from Barhet Assembly seat, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
Kalpana Soren is a resident of Mayurbhanj in the neighboring state of Odisha and is not a tribal. Therefore, she cannot contest from Barhet seat despite her husband leaving the seat.
Gandey is JMM’s stronghold, has won five times
Therefore, it is believed that an unreserved seat has been made vacant for him. Sarfaraz Ahmed Gandey, who left the legislature, was an MLA from an unreserved seat. This seat has been a stronghold of JMM.
This is a tribal and Muslim dominated area. JMM has won from here a total of five times in 1985, 1990, 2000, 2005 and 2019.
Sarfaraz Ahmed has also won the legislative elections from here twice. In 2019, Ahmed had defeated the BJP candidate here by a margin of 8855 votes. In such a situation, Kalpana Soren can easily win the by-election here.
Reward for leaving seat, Rajya Sabha membership
There is also discussion in the political circles of Jharkhand that Sarfaraz Ahmed, who left the Gandey seat, may also be given a reward for his sacrifice. There is talk that the party may send him to Parliament in the biennial Rajya Sabha elections to be held in February-March. Sarfaraz Ahmed is a senior politician. He has also been in Congress. He has represented Congress from Gandey seat in United Bihar.
Where is the obstacle in the way?
However, Kalpana Soren’s troubles do not end here. The biggest obstacle in their path is the order of the Bombay High Court, which said that by-elections cannot be held if there is a year or less left for the elections.
The High Court had given this order in 2019 on the petition filed regarding by-election on Katol assembly seat of Maharashtra. There was one year and 50 days left for elections there.
Now one year is left for the tenure of Jharkhand Assembly to end. In such a situation, if by-elections are announced and election dates are announced, then this issue can be dragged to the court.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has also tweeted about this and asked the Governor of Jharkhand that if Kalpana Soren ji cannot become an MLA from anywhere, then how can she be made the Chief Minister? Dubey has also asked the Governor to think about this.
What does the law say?
Article 164 (1) of the Constitution states that the Governor of the state will appoint the Chief Minister. The process of appointing the Chief Minister in the Constitution is the same as that of appointing the Prime Minister of India. Under Article 164 (1), the qualification for the post of Chief Minister is the same as the qualification for an MLA, but the big and interesting thing in this is that it is not necessary that the person appointed to the post of Chief Minister or Minister should be a member of the Assembly or Legislature. Yes it is.
In such a case, according to Article 164 (4) of the Constitution, he will have to take membership of any House of the Legislature within six months of assuming office. His father-in-law Shibu Soren had also done so in 2009. However, he lost the Tamar by-election held six months later and had to resign.
Since there is no Legislative Council in Jharkhand, to become the CM, Kalpana Soren will have to win the legislative elections within six months.
If this does not happen, he will automatically have to resign from his post after six months. It is a different matter that if his party wants, it can make him the Chief Minister for the next six months without becoming an MLA again. By then the election date will come but the biggest difficulty in this is the possibility of political support base and opposition attacking. On the other hand, there is also a fear that as per the concerns of BJP, the Governor may also put a hurdle in the name of Kalpana Soren if he wishes.