The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken Hemant Soren into custody, his party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MP Mahua Maji claimed on Wednesday.
She also said that a team of ED officials accompanied him to the Raj Bhavan where he handed over his resignation from the post of chief minister to the Governor.
“The CM is in ED custody. The CM has gone to the Governor with the ED team to submit his resignation… Champai Soren will be the new Chief Minister… We have enough numbers…” Maji said.
JMM MLAs have choosen state minister Champai Soren, a loyalist of Hemant Soren, as the leader of the Legislative Party and went to the Raj Bhavan to apprise Governor CP Radhakrishnan of their decision.
“We have chosen Champai Soren as the leader of the Legislative Party. We came to the Raj Bhawan to request the Governor for the oath ceremony,” Jharkhand minister Banna Gupta said.
Earlier in the day, a team of ED officials arrived at the residence of Hemant Soren for questioning in the alleged land scam.
There was heavy police deployment around the Chief Minister’s residence in Ranchi. Section 144 was imposed within a radius of 100 metres outside the CM’s residence, Raj Bhavan and the ED office in Ranchi.
On Monday, ED officials had raided Soren’s residence in Delhi to question him. The central agency seized two cars, some documents and Rs 36 lakh from his residence and party office in Delhi.
Meanwhile, the Congress party has accused Jharkhand Governor of working as BJP agent.
“We were given time and called. After knowing that our numbers are enough for majority, we were insulted and asked to leave…Raj Bawan is working as BJP’s agent…,” Congress MLA Dipika Pandey said.