Hemant slams BJP, guv as JMM clears floor test

Former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren called his arrest on January 31 a "black night" that marks a "black chapter" in Indian democracy, even as the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led alliance, now helmed by his close aide Champai Soren, sailed through in the trust vote in the Jharkhand assembly on Monday.

- Vishal Kant

RANCHI: A day after its legislators returned from Hyderabad, where they spent two days to avoid the prospect of poaching ahead of the floor test, the alliance garnered the support of 47 of the 77 members who voted in the 81-member state assembly. The opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the BJP, had 29 legislators on its side.

The floor test caps a dramatic 10 days in Jharkhand with allegations that Hemant Soren had "disappeared" from his Delhi residence on January 28 while Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths were looking for him, his re-emergence in Ranchi on January 30, his questioning for seven hours the next day, his resignation as chief minister, and finally the arrest by ED. The alliance picked Champai, 67, as leader in his stead, but the nominee had to make three trips to the Raj Bhavan over two days before he was sworn in on February 2.

Speaking in the assembly before the trust vote commenced - he was allowed to participate by the Jharkhand high court Hemant Soren said that he would quit politics if the ED could produce a shred of documentary evidence that he owned the 8.5-acre land parcel at the centre of the money laundering allegations that led to his arrest. "A black night and a black chapter was added to the democracy of the country on the night of January 31. I think this is the first time in the country's history that a chief minister or even a former CM was arrested from inside the Raj Bhavan. I think that even Raj Bhawan was involved in this episode," Soren said in the state assembly.

The office of governor CP Radhakrishnan did not comment despite calls and messages seeking a response.