Supporters of the JMM, which is leading a Congress-RJD alliance government in Jharkhand, arrived in large numbers in Ranchi on Wednesday, a day before chief minister Hemant Soren’s appearance before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over charges of alleged money-laundering in an illegal mining case.

During an event at his residence in Ranchi on Wednesday, Hemant said: “Some of the conspirators who are planning to topple the democratically elected government are planning to escape by submarines.

“We would like to foil their attempts. It is time for the locals to decide whether the conspirators will rule here or the tribals. It is time for the tribals, Dalits, and minorities to unite against forces who ruled the state for two decades but failed to address the basic problems.”

“They are making constant efforts to overthrow us. Knowing that if I stay for five years, I will make the tribals so strong that those coming from outside will be thrown out. With your support, I will defeat their designs,” Hemant said at the event, which saw a former BJP MLA from Gandey in Giridih, J.P. Verma, joining the JMM with several supporters.

ED sources confirmed that Hemant was scheduled to appear at the zonal office of the federal agency for questioning at 11am on Thursday.

The Congress and the JMM have asked their MLAs to stay put in Ranchi on Thursday.

Senior Congress leader and state rural development minister Alamgir Alam, health minister Banna Gupta, state president Rajesh Thakur, party MLAs Pradeep Yadav, Deepika Pandey and Anup Singh were asked to be in Ranchi.

“In view of the current situation, the party’s state in-charge Avinash Pande has directed all MLAs to be in Ranchi. All our party MLAs are attending the meeting at the CM’s residence to plan out strategies to foil the BJP conspiracy to topple the government,” Congress spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan said.