JMM holds march in Ranchi to protest against ED summons to Soren

Workers of Jharkhand's ruling JMM on Thursday took out a rally here to protest against Enforcement Directorate's summons to Chief Minister Hemant Soren for questioning in connection with a case of alleged illegal mining.

Shouting slogans against the BJP and carrying party flags, hundreds of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) activists from across the state gathered at Morabadi ground.

The protesters -- some of them armed with traditional bows and arrows -- marched to the chief minister's residence to show solidarity with him.

Soren, also the JMM executive president, who skipped the ED summons addressed them from atop a temporary stage set up there.

He informed them that he is going to Raipur during the day to participate in a tribal event in Chhattisgarh.

Attacking the BJP, Soren claimed the ED's summons to him was a part of a conspiracy hatched by the saffron party to destabilise his democratically elected government.

He urged them to be ready to oppose any injustice meted out to tribals, Dalits and backward people by ''feudal forces''.

Soren assured the workers that his government will complete full term and there was no threat to it.

Meanwhile, commoners including school students had a harrowing experience on Kanke Road in Ranchi on Thursday afternoon due to the gathering in front of the chief minister's residence.

Several school buses and cars were stuck in the crow and traffic police sweated it out to clear the jam.

An ambulance also got stuck in the jam but it was given a passage after following Soren's appeal to party workers.

During his address, an ambulance got stuck in the jam. Soren appealed to the party workers to make way for it.

Many school buses were also stranded.

''We had no idea that there was such a large gathering on the road,'' the helper of a bus said.

Seeing that school buses were stranded, the chief minister finished his speech, saying, ''School buses are getting stuck, we don't want to waste pupils' time.'' JMM central spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said that workers have gathered voluntarily to show their support to the chief minister who is being ''harassed by the BJP by unleashing all forces''.

Bhattacharya claimed that the assembly was spontaneous as there was anger among JMM workers and they wanted to ''stand as a rock behind their leader''.

The ED had asked Soren to appear for questioning at its regional office here at 11 am but he did not go there in the alleged illegal mining case. The CM faces disqualification from the state assembly in the case.

Security arrangements have been beefed up at various places in the Jharkhand capital Ranchi including the offices of the BJP and the ED.

The ruling coalition also comprising the Congress and the RJD held a meeting at the CM's residence on Wednesday evening after the ED summoned Soren.

It was announced that the UPA will launch a state-wide protest against the ''attempts to destabilise a democratically elected government''.