Election Commission of India (ECI)’s notice to chief minister Hemant Soren asking for his explanation over the ongoing office of profit row involving him, has increased nervousness within the ruling alliance comprising JMM, Congress and RJD.

On Wednesday, Congress party’s Jharkhand affairs chief Avinash Pande reached Ranchi for a two-day tour to the state amid the deepening political uncertainty. Pandey hoped that the CM would come out clean, but sources within the grand old party said that Pandey’s tour is aimed at deliberating with rank and files to chalk out different plans in the event of any threat to the government or CM.

Talking to reporters at the party office, Pande however said that everyone is with the CM and accused the BJP of trying to destabilise the government.

“ECI’s notice is a routine process and we are sure that things will be in our favour. There are laws in the country and we are sure that they will work accordingly. ECI is a constitutional body and is also mandated by its own constitution and rules and regulations,” he said, adding that the entire row is BJP’s game plan to destabilize the popularly elected government that is working in the interest of the state.

“There is a pattern and in all non-BJP ruled states, the saffron camp is trying different gimmicks to weaken governments. They will not be successful here. Also, it is trying to create a situation to make all believe that the government is on a sticky wicket, but all coalition partners are united and government is very much stable. Everyone is behind our chief minister,” he said.

Party insiders said that at the state level coordinate committee meeting which he first held after reaching Ranchi, Pande sought suggestions and views from all the members of the committee on the current political situation.

“The way ECI has rushed an emissary via flight to Ranchi to deliver the notice was unprecedented and raises question about the hurriedness with which it worked in this case. So we can’t completely rule out that EC may try to rule against our favour,” remarked a veteran Congressmen, present in the meeting.

“Therefore, we have to be prepared with different alternative plans in case of his (Soren) disqualification as it will change different things. Most importantly, being a national party, we have to also ensure that we don’t lose our bargaining power, and perception among public ahead,” he said.

On his meetings during the two-day visit, Pande however said that they were meant to review party’s affairs. “In the last two months, we undertook numerous public connect programmes to strengthen the organization here. So we have to review the success to take corrective measures,” he said.

On the other hand, chief minister Hemant continues to be in Hyderabad since the last one week to take care of his mother undergoing treatment related to age-old ailments. Sources in JMM said that a team led by party’s general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharjee has been dispatched to Delhi to coordinate with legal experts to bail Soren out of the situation. Party insiders claimed that they are also exploring possibility of extension of time for Hemant's reply on his mother’s health grounds to prepare watertight counter to the accusations.

Notably, earlier this week on Tuesday, EC sent notice to Hemant asking him to explain why action should not be taken against him for issuing a mining lease under his name, stating that prima facie, it appeared to violate section 9A of the Representation of Peoples Act. Hemant has been asked to send his reply by May 10.

The developments were triggered after BJP’s national vice-president and former chief minister Raghubar Das in February this year accused Hemant, who also looks after the Jharkhand mining department, of having granted himself a mining lease for stone quarrying in about 88 decimal land in Ranchi’s Angara block in July 2021.

A BJP delegation had also met Jharkhand governor Ramesh Bais, urging him to disqualify Hemant from the Assembly in accordance with the provisions of the Representation of People’s Act, 1951 for “misusing his official position” for personal gain. Bais forwarded the memorandum to the ECI to seek its opinion on whether Hemant’s alleged actions came under the purview of “office of profit”.

On April 8, based on a memo sent by Raj Bhavan, the ECI sought details from Jharkhand chief secretary Sukhdev Singh about the mining lease granted to Hemant. It also sought details on mines allotment made to Hemant’s brother Basant Soren. Chief secretary had last week sent all the documents pertaining to the mining lease to the ECI.