Amid speculations of a possible anoinment of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's wife, the ruling JMM-led coalition has convened a meeting of its legislators here on Wednesday.

The speculations were triggered by the Enforcement Directorate's recent summons to Chief Minister Hemant Soren coupled with the sudden resignation by JMM's Gandey legislator Sarfaraz Ahmad on Monday.

The opposition BJP has alleged that Ahmad was made to quit so that the chief minister's wife Kalpana Soren could contest the Gandey seat in case of ED's action against Soren.

"A meeting of the legislators of alliance partners has been convened at 4.30 pm at the chief minister's residence on January 3. Please ensure timely participation in the meeting," Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) general secretary Vinod Kumar Pandey wrote to ministers of the alliance parties and legislators on Tuesday.

JMM sources said the meeting has been convened to discuss the present political scenario in the backdrop of ED's summons to Soren as well as to chalk out a strategy.

Ahmad’s sudden resignation without citing any reason has sparked off speculations that Soren might step down and anoint his wife Kalpana Soren as the chief minister and she may contest from the vacant seat.

The ED in its latest summons to Soren, who is also the executive president of JMM, has asked him to to inform the investigating officer about the date, venue, and time of his choice so that his statement could be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The probe pertains to a "huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia" in Jharkhand, according to the ED.

Soren has skipped six earlier summonses by ED accusing the union government of using central agencies to destabilise the democratically elected state government. The seventh summons was issued in December last year.

He had filed petitions before the Supreme Court and Jharkhand High Court seeking protection from ED's actions, terming the summonses "unwarranted". Both courts dismissed his petitions.

The chief minister's office has sent a letter to the ED's office here but its content is not known.

The probe agency arrested 14 people in the case, including IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan, who had previously served as the director of the state social welfare department and the deputy commissioner of Ranchi.

Meanwhile, BJP state president Babulal Marandi has said that a delegation will meet Governor C P Radhakrishnan and urge him to seek suggestions from legal experts and the attorney general in case the Hemant Soren government proposes to anoint the chief minister's wife as his successor.

Any attempt by Soren, who is allegedly involved in a land and money laundering scandal, to anoint his wife Kalpana will be a mockery of democracy, Marandi said.

BJP MP from Godda Nishikant Dubey in a post on X on Monday said that with Assembly poll in Jharkhand is due in less than a year, by-election to Gandey cannot be conducted now. He cited a Mumbai High Court ruling to buttress his point. Election to the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly is due in November-December this year..

Congress state president Rajesh Thakur said all attempts are being made by the saffron party to destabilise the JMM-led government and they will be thwarted.

The Jharkhand Assembly the ruling coalition 47 members - 29 of JMM, 17 of Congress and one of the RJD. The opposition BJP has 26 members and AJSU Party three. The NCP and CPI (ML) have one lawmaker each, apart from two Independents.

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