Jharkhand Assembly's winter session set to resume on Monday, likely to be turbulent

Ranchi, Dec 17 (PTI) The winter session of Jharkhand Assembly, which will recommence on Monday, is likely to be stormy with the BJP-led opposition deciding to attack the state government over various issues, including ED summons to Chief Minister Hemant Soren and seizure of over Rs 350 crore from premises linked to a Congress MP, a senior BJP leader said on Sunday.

The ruling JMM-Congress-RJD alliance, however, said it is prepared to reply to all questions of the opposition in the House.

The five-day winter session of the assembly began on Friday. The House assembled for a brief period on Friday and was adjourned till 11 am on December 18.

"We will seek replies from the government on two issues -- the CM repeatedly skipping ED summonses and the seizure of a huge cash amount from premises linked to a Congress MP – on Monday. We will protest over the issues both inside and outside the House," BJP chief whip Biranchi Narayan told PTI.

"The ED issued summonses to the chief minister six times but he skipped all of those. People want to know why he is running away from questioning by the central probe agency. If the CM is clean, he should face the questioning and end the state of confusion prevailing among the people," he said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had issued a fresh summons and asked Soren to appear before the federal agency's regional office in Ranchi on December 12 for questioning in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.

This was the sixth ED summons issued to Soren, but he skipped it and went to attend a state government outreach programme in Dumka on December 12.

Narayan said, "We will also corner the government on the issue of seizure of huge piles of cash from premises linked to Congress MP Dheeraj Sahu. People want to know whose money this was. The government should give a reply on this.

The I-T department has effected the country's biggest-ever cash seizure of over Rs 350 crore by any agency in a single operation after raiding 30-34 premises in Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

The premises of Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, Dheeraj Prasad Sahu, in Ranchi and other places were also covered during the searches by the department.

Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur said, "During the legislative party meeting on December 14, it was decided that the government will react positively to all questions regarding the interest of the state's people. The government wants smooth functioning of the House so that real issues of the state could be discussed." PTI