Jharkhand: Rahul Gandhi meets Hemant Soren's wife Kalpana

Ranchi (Jharkhand): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday met Kalpana Soren, the wife of former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Hemant Sore, soon after the newly formed government, led by CM Champai Soren, passed the confidence motion in the state assembly.

Rahul Gandhi met Kalpana Soren at her residence in Ranchi.

Congress General Secretary of Communication, Jairam Ramesh, took to X to share the photograph of Rahul Gandhi with Kalpana Soren and said, "A few minutes before the public rally at the historic Shaheed Maidan in the HEC Complex of Ranchi, and a few minutes after the JMM-INC-RJD-CPI (ML) alliance convincingly defeated the BJP and its allies on the floor of the Vidhan Sabha, @RahulGandhi met with Kalpana Soren, Hemant Soren's wife, at their residence."

The government of Jharkhand, led by Chief Minister Champai Soren, passed the confidence motion in the state Assembly on Monday.

The coalition government won the floor test with a 47:29 majority.

The Assembly Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato asked the members of the House who were in favour and against the motion to stand at their places one by one.

"(A total of) 47 votes have been received in favour of the motion. There were 29 votes against the motion. Thus, this House passes the trust vote," the Speaker said before adjourning the House till 11 am on Tuesday.

In the 81-member assembly, the half way mark for a majority is 41.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha with 29 seats, and its ally Congress with 17 were confident of easily sailing through the trust vote.

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister, who was arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement in the alleged land scam, Hemant Soren was also present in the Assembly to attend the floor test. A special court in Ranchi allowed Soren to participate in the trust-vote.

Participating in the debate, Hemant Soren, said that his arrest is just an example of the oppression faced by tribals and Dalits in society in multiple ways.

"If you look back at the oppression faced by adivasis, backward, Dalits and minorities, it has been brought forward in multiple ways in different forms. January 31 is an example of this oppression," he said.

Lashing out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, the former Chief Minister said, "I do not understand why the ruling (central) government has so much hatred towards adivasis and dalits...They don't hesitate to say that we should remain in jungles. If we come out of jungle their graves will get dirty. They think that we are untouchables."

Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren while setting off the debate on the trust motion said that the Centre is misusing the agencies.

"The one who is ruling the Central government misused agencies. In 2019, Hemant got the mandate. Such a Chief Minister is arrested in a land scam case," the Chief Minister said supporting his predecessor.