Guwahati:

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday described the possible replacement of Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress as ”deeply distressing”.

Mr Soren is set to replace incumbent Chief Minister Champai Soren who assumed office when the former was jailed earlier this year in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.

”The removal of a senior tribal leader from the post of Chief Minister in Jharkhand by the JMM and Congress party is deeply distressing,” Mr Sarma who is the co-in charge of Jharkhand posted on X.

The removal of a senior tribal leader from the post of Chief Minister in Jharkhand by the JMM and Congress party is deeply distressing. I am certain that the people of Jharkhand will strongly condemn this action and firmly reject it.

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) July 3, 2024

The JMM and Congress are constituents of the ruling coalition in Jharkhand.

Mr Sarma said he is certain that the people of Jharkhand will strongly condemn this action and firmly reject it.

The Assam chief minister has visited the state several times since the Lok Sabha elections and held meetings with senior BJP leaders over the forthcoming assembly elections.

Leaders and MLAs of the alliance government during a meeting at Chief Minister Champai Soren’s residence here unanimously decided to elect Hemant Soren as JMM legislature party leader, they said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jairam Ramesh. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have engaged in a war of words over Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s ‘Akbar’ remark made during a public speech in poll-bound Chhattisgarh’s Kawardha.

The Congress on October 26 moved to the Election Commission (EC) against Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, alleging a poll code violation by the latter during a speech made in poll-bound Chhattisgarh.

Taking to ‘X’, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote, “Yesterday, the Congress party brought to the attention of the Election Commission of India serious electoral malpractices by senior leaders of the party in power. The ECI has observed prima facie the violation of the Model Code of Conduct by the Assam CM for his obnoxious hate speech on the 18th of October in Chhattisgarh. He is actually a serial offender”.

“We hope that the ECI will follow through and take this case to its logical conclusion. Politicians, especially those holding Constitutional positions, cannot and should not be allowed to get away with such blatant violations of the Model Code of Conduct. It is the only way to stop the poisoning of our public discourse and protect the sanctity of our elections and democracy itself”, he added.

Following this, the EC issued a show-cause notice to Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma over his speech during the Chhattisgarh poll campaign. The Election Commission (EC) in the show-cause notice mentioned that certain parts of Himanta Biswa Sarma’s speech on October 18 have been found to be “prima facia violative”.

The EC has asked Assam CM Himanata Biswa Sarma to be present before 5 p.m. on October 30, 2023.”You are hereby called upon to show cause by 17:00 hrs of 30th October 2023, (Monday) as to why appropriate action of violation on Model code of conduct should not be taken against you.”, the notice read.

The notice further mentioned that in case of the absence of the BJP leader, the Election Commission will take appropriate action or decision. Meanwhile, in response to the allegation by the Congress party, Assam CM took to ‘X’ and wrote, “Congress has withheld the material information from the Hon’ble Election Commission that Mohammed Akbar is their candidate from Kawardha Constituency. Therefore legitimate criticism of a candidate does not amount to communal politics”.

“Congress will have to face the legal consequence of not revealing this crucial fact in their representation. I have full faith in the collection wisdom of the Hon’ble Election Commission”, he added.