As JMM lawmaker Sarfaraz Ahmed resigns, BJP leader takes a swipe at Hemant Soren

RANCHI: Jharkhand’s ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislator Sarfaraz Ahmed has resigned from the state assembly, people familiar with the development said on Monday.

Jharkhand assembly speaker Rabindranath Mahto said Sarfaraz Ahmed met him on December 31 and submitted his resignation. “And I have accepted it,” Mahto told HT. To a question on the reasons behind the move, Mahto said he did not find it “appropriate” to inquire into the reasons behind the resignation.

On Monday, the assembly secretariat issued the formal order. “The resignation letter given by Sarfaraz Ahmed from his seat in the legislative assembly has been accepted by the speaker. As a result of its approval, the said seat has become vacant in the Legislative Assembly.”

Ahmed, who had been twice elected to the state assembly from the Congress in the past, switched over to the JMM ahead of the 2019 assembly elections and won his home constituency of Gandey, his third assembly win.

Sarfaraz Ahmed did not respond to calls and messages for his comment on the surprise move. His party, JMM, hasn’t spoken on his resignation either.

In a post on X, Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey took a swipe at chief minister Hemant Soren. “Jharkhand’s MLA from Gandey, Sarfaraz Ahmed, has resigned from the assembly and his resignation has been accepted. Soon, Hemant Soren-ji will also resign from the post of chief minister and his wife, Kalpana Soren-ji, will take over as the next CM. The new year could bring pain to the Soren family,” Dubey said in a post in Hindi.

A JMM leader said he was not aware of the reasons behind Ahmed’s resignation and wondered if it could be linked to Hemant Soren’s troubles with the Enforcement Directorate, which last week issued a seventh summons to Soren for questioning him in connection with an ongoing money laundering probe related to an alleged land scam.