A row has erupted over the oath taking of Jharkhand’s minister, Hafizuuddin Ansari (Hafizul Hasan) after he quoted certain religious texts at the beginning of his oath in the cabinet expansion in state assembly on Monday July 8.
The incident has now stirred a political controversy where while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have alleged Hasan for defying the constitutional norms, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on the other hand has been alleging that the opposition BJP has left with no serious issues in the run up to the forthcoming assembly elections.
Highlighting the incident, Chief Minister of Assam and co-in-charge of Jharkhand for the state assembly election, Hemanta Biswa Sharma said “Do ministers take oath like this in the state of Jharkhand?
We will not sit idle, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) of the state, Amar Kumar Bauri has requested the governor not to allow Hafizul Hasan take charge as this oath is invalid and against the constitution, added Sharma while sharing a video of the oath ceremony on social media platform X.
झारखण्ड राज्य में मंत्री ऐसे शपथ लेते हैं?
हम चुप नहीं बैठेंगे। राज्य के माननीय नेता प्रतिपक्ष श्री @amarbauri जी ने माननीय राज्यपाल से अनुरोध किया है कि श्री हफीजुल हसन जी को कार्यभार ग्रहण न करने दें, क्योंकि यह शपथ अमान्य है और संविधान के विरुद्ध है। pic.twitter.com/c3sbQyhy7L
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) July 8, 2024
The charge labelled by the Assam CM instantly draws a quick reaction from the JMM which instantly posted a reply stating that the incumbent Assam’s CM should not stoop to this level.
Don’t break the society to shine your hateful politics which the country has rejected it just a few days ago. If the oath is taken in the name of God/Ishwar/Allah/Jesus, then what is your problem in that. A minister in your Centre took oath without taking the name of God, so why did he sit there quietly and why did you did not raised an alarm? Read the reply further.
BJP submits memorandum to state governor demands retaking of oath
Meanwhile a two member BJP delegation also meet the governor, CP Radhakrishnan and submitted a memorandum seeking retaking of oath by the JMM legislator and removal of him as a minister till then.
A memorandum in this regard was submitted to the governor of Jharkhand who has taken cognizance of the matter. We have requested that Hafizul Ansari be sworn in again in a just manner in accordance with the constitution, till then he should be kept free from the responsibility of the ministerial post, remarked Bauri.
Considered as one of the prominent faces of the JMM, Hafizul Hasan is an MLA from the Madhupur constituency of the state. He had been a minister of sports in the previous state cabinet and has been bestowed upon the responsibility of ministries of sports and youth affairs and minority welfare in the latest cabinet as well.
This is not the only time that Hasan name has been aligned with a controversy and the JMM leader from Deoghar had also grabbed the headlines with his controversial remarks in the past as well. Recently a purported video of his fixing scarf between the national anthem has also gone viral on the internet drawing reactions from the netizens.
It is worth mentioning that similar controversies had also erupted over quoting of additional phrases/slogans during oath ceremony of a number of parliamentarians after the Lok Sabha polls.
Assembly elections in the state
It must be noted that assembly elections are scheduled to be held in the state of Jharkhand in next few months where a tough contest is expected between the opposition BJP and the ruling alliance led by JMM.
The JMM received a major boost earlier after Chief Minister Hemant Soren was granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court in a money laundering case linked to alleged land grab.
Soren who walked out from jail on June 28 has recently taken oath replacing senior leader and party loyalist Champai Soren who was sworn in as former’s replacement after he resigned from the Chief Minister’s post prior to his arrest by Enforcement Directorate on January 31.
Notably, hours after CM Hemant Soren proved his majority in the assembly, the ED moved to Supreme Court opposing the bail granted by the Jharkhand High Court in the land grab case in which Soren was chargesheeted by the ED in April this year.
