I-T dept raids Jharkhand CM aide’s residence ahead of Assembly polls

Jharkhand News: Income tax department is conducting raids at the residence of Sunil Srivastava, personal secretary of Jharkhand Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren, in Ranchi.
Notably, this comes days ahead of the assembly elections in Jharkhand. CM Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), in alliance with Congress, RJD and left parties is facing major competition from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA alliance in the state.
The raids are being conducted at 9 places including Ranchi and Jamshedpur, news agency ANI reported quoting people in the know.
Jharkhand High Court had in June granted bail to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in alleged land scam case.
The ED had arrested CM Soren on January 31, 2024 after questioning him for over seven hours. Hemant Soren then went to Raj Bhavan and resigned from the State’s top post.
The case is related to forging land documents of 8.86 acres in Badgai area of Ranchi.
The 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will go to polls in two phases on November 13 and 20, with vote counting scheduled for November 23.
A total of 2.6 crore voters are eligible to participate, including 1.31 crore male and 1.29 crore female voters, as well as 11.84 lakh first-time voters and 66.84 lakh young voters.
In the 2020 Assembly elections, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won 30 seats, the BJP won 25 seats, and the Congress won 16 seats. In 2014, the BJP won 37 seats, JMM won 19 seats, and Congress won just 6 seats.
(More details awaited…)