Hemant Soren's wife Kalpana breaks down: ‘Centre hatched a big conspiracy’

Former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren gets emotional at the 51st foundation day function of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).

Former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren on Monday broke down while speaking about her jailed husband. “I’m standing here with a heavy heart… My father-in-law (Shibu Soren) and my mother-in-law are in pain… I had decided I would control tears…I’m getting energy from you,” Kalpana Soren said at an event marking the 51st foundation day of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).

“They (Centre) hatched such a big conspiracy due to which Hemant Soren had to go to jail. People who sit in Delhi do not have heart. They consider tribal, dalit and minority as insects and think that they can do anything with them,” she said.

“Is it a crime to seek Jharkhand’s ₹1.36 lakh-crore from Centre, or passing a Bill in the assembly seeking 27 per cent reservation for OBCs? Is it a crime to ask for a separate Sarna religion code, ensuring domicile policy for waiving farmers’ loan or bringing back labourers from other states by airplane, buses and trains?'” she asked.

“We were able to thwart their plans this time, thanks to the dedication and high spirits of our legislators… In the future, we must demonstrate through our votes that ‘Jharkhand Jhukega Nahi’ (Jharkhand will not bow)…They have played with self-respect of every people of Jharkhand by putting him in jail. Befitting reply will be given to them in coming days,” Kalpana Soren said.

Kalpana was addressing the cadres on a day when the Supreme Court delivered its verdict on the JMM bribery case.

The Supreme Court held that MPs and MLAs do not enjoy immunity from prosecution for taking bribes to make a speech or cast a vote in the legislature.

In 2019, the Supreme Court took up the case involving Sita Soren, a JMM MLA from Jharkhand’s Jama village who was embroiled in the JMM bribery scandal. The bench including Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi recognised the case’s significant public implications and referred it to a five-judge panel for further consideration.

Sita Soren stood accused of accepting bribes in exchange for her vote during the 2012 Rajya Sabha election. She argued that the constitutional immunity granted to lawmakers, which shielded her father-in-law Shibu Soren in the JMM bribery scandal, should also apply to her.

Challenging the Jharkhand High Court’s decision from February 17, 2014, which declined to dismiss the criminal charges against her, Sita Soren sought relief from the Supreme Court.

The three-judge bench indicated a willingness to reassess the earlier Supreme Court ruling concerning Shibu Soren and other JMM MPs who were accused of accepting bribes to vote against a no-confidence motion in the Narasimha Rao government in 1993. This vote ensured the Union government’s survival despite being in a minority.

Although the CBI had filed a case against Sita Soren and the other JMM MPs, the Supreme Court had previously dismissed it, citing the immunity granted to lawmakers under Article 105(2) of the Constitution.

(With PTI inputs)

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