'Mukhyamantri Lapata': Ex-Jharkhand CM Mocks Hemant Soren For Evading ED, Keeps Reward For 'Safe' Return

Senior BJP leader and former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi mocked CM Hemant Soren for evading the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons and appealed to the state’s people for their “lapata” (lost) CM.

Taking to the microblogging site X, the BJP’s state unit president, Marandi said, “Touching appeal to the people of Jharkhand:- The Chief Minister of our state has been missing for the last 40 hours due to fear of the central agencies and has again run away hiding his face.”

The former CM further wrote this situation is not only a “threat” to Soren’s personal security but to the “safety, honor and dignity of the 3.5 crore people of Jharkhand”.

Marandi said that he will give a reward of Rs 11,000 to whoever “will find and bring back our ‘promising’ chief minister safely without any delay”.

The senior BJP leader, again in another post on X, wrote, “The search is on for the missing Chief Minister of Jharkhand… If any gentleman sees this person, please inform immediately at the given address. The person giving correct information will be given a cash amount of Rs 11 thousand.”

While Jharkhand governor CP Radhakrishnan told reporters, “Like you, we are also waiting for the CM’s response. Nobody is above the law. We have to work within the Constitution. We want law and order to be maintained.”

The Jharkhand chief minister went “untraceable” on Monday evening amid his scheduled raids and questioning by the anti-corruption agency.

The mobile phones of Soren and his security personnel were switched off, while his family members, the CM’s office, and his colleagues in the cabinet expressed “ignorance” over his whereabouts to the ED.

The federal agency took Soren’s BMW away from his Delhi residence, along with his driver on Monday night.

Following this, a massive search operation was launched for the chief minister and his aide with the help of Delhi Police. Meanwhile, the BJP leaders in Ranchi are considering a habeas corpus petition before the High Court, sources in the party said.

Marandi on Monday evening as well had posted on X over Soren being “missing”.

He wrote, “Due to the fear of Enforcement Directorate, Chief Minister Hemant Soren has absconded from the Chief Minister’s residence in Delhi and gone underground for the last eighteen hours. According to media sources, late at night Hemant ji, wearing slippers and covering his face with a sheet, ran away from the residence on foot like a thief. Ajay Singh, the security personnel of Special Branch who went with him to Delhi, is also missing. The mobile phones of both of them have also been switched off, since then ED and Delhi Police are searching for them. There cannot be any other example of such gross negligence with the security of the Chief Minister.”

He requested the governor to take “cognizance of this and take appropriate steps to maintain the rule of law in the state.”

The ED has summoned CM Hemant Soren seven times in connection with stone mining and land scam cases. His party members have been protesting against the ED actions across the state since Sunday.