A day after he was released on bail, having spent five months behind bars following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a land scam case, former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren has hit out at the BJP for “framing” him and said the people of the state will give the party a befitting reply in the Assembly elections, due later this year.

In an exclusive interview with NDTV on Saturday, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader also played down his struggles and said his father, former chief minister and party chief Shibu Soren and others in his party have had to face much worse.

Attacking the BJP over his arrest, Mr Soren repeated a charge that has been lobbed often at the ruling party and claimed that it was misusing agencies. Stating that the action against him is proof that the voices of the poor, tribals and farmers are being suppressed, he said the people of the state have seen everything and will make their displeasure known in the elections, likely to be held around November.

Jharkhand is ruled by a coalition led by the JMM, which has 27 MLAs, followed by the Congress, which has 18 in the 81-member house. The alliance, part of the larger INDIA bloc, also includes the RJD and the CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, which have one seat each.

Asked about his time in prison, the JMM leader said, “Our party chief Shibu Soren and many other leaders of the party have fought an even harder battle, this is nothing in front of them. Now we are on the frontlines and I have also got an opportunity to understand things and understand conspiracies (plotted against us).”

On the cases in which he is named, he said, “The court has given an order, it is available online. Look at that and assess how the voices of the poor, Dalits, backwards and farmers are being suppressed. These five months that I was in jail… for a poor person, a farmer, every moment and every hour is precious.”

His, Wife’s Future?

After Mr Soren’s arrest, the party’s number three, Champai Soren, became chief minister. This followed rumours of Hemant Soren’s wife, Kalpana, taking the reins, and his sister-in-law, Sita Soren, also quit the party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections amid a perceived power struggle.

To a question on whether he would become chief minister again, Mr Soren said, “I will look at all of this later. I just came out yesterday. I am with the party workers and am being welcomed by them. My beloved workers have reposed their trust in me and I am sharing in their enthusiasm. I am not looking at the government or the party for now. All of this will be seen in the time to come and will be communicated to you”

Kalpana Soren played an active role when Mr Soren was behind bars and also attended INDIA alliance meetings. When the JMM leader was asked about her future role, he said,  “She is my wife and we are from a political family. My father has been in politics and so have my elder brother, my wife and I. Our opponents will call it dynastic politics, but I will only say everyone should work according to their capacity.”

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Friday disposed of the petition of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren seeking interim bail to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

The Supreme Court said that Mr Soren’s interim bail petition should be taken up along with the petition declaring his arrest in a money laundering case as “illegal”, due for hearing on Monday.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader was arrested in January by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. He had moved the Supreme Court against the Jharkhand High Court order dismissing his application challenging his arrest by the ED and denied bail to him.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for Mr Soren, told a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud that polling for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections in Jharkhand will commence on May 13 and that the JMM leader should be allowed to campaign for his party.

“Hemant Soren was arrested on January 31. We moved the high court on February 4. The high court reserved the judgment on February 28 but did not deliver the judgment. The High Court kept the judgment pending for long,” Mr Sibal said.

“The first phase of election starts in the state on May 13 and so we moved this court under Article 32 of the Constitution, and notice was issued last week. After the notice was issued, the high court delivered the judgment rejecting his plea. Its very unfortunate that rights are being trampled in this fashion,” Mr Sibal had said.

Mr Soren was arrested on January 31 shortly after he resigned as the Jharkhand chief minister. He is currently lodged in judicial custody at the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi.

The central probe agency has alleged that “huge amounts of proceeds of crime” were generated by Mr Soren through manipulation of official records by showing dummy sellers and purchasers in the guise of forged/bogus documents to acquire huge parcels of land having value in crores of rupees.