It is possible under leadership of Jharkhand CM Soren: Pratul Shah Deo on age row

Ranchi: As controversy erupted over the age of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, BJP Spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo took a dig at the CM and said it is only possible under the leadership of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Soren.

The BJP has alleged that CM Hemant Soren's age increased by seven years in the last five years and that Soren declared his age to be 42 in 2019, but this year, he mentioned in the affidavit that his age is 49.

Talking to IANS, Pratul Shah Deo said, "This is only possible under the leadership of the JMM and Hemant Soren that in five years, a person's age will increase by seven years. I am talking about CM Soren. In the 2019 affidavit, he stated his age as 42 years, and in this affidavit, he stated it as 49 years. This means either he was lying then or he is lying now. Both affidavits provided his age. In five years, we have never seen a common person’s age increase by seven years."

"There are many differences in his affidavit like there was a property of Rs 10 lakh in which the rate of that property has decreased. Generally, it increases but in his case, the rate is decreasing. Soren also didn't mention the land he bought in between 2004-2006 in the affidavit. But, now it is mentioned in the affidavit of 2024. He has also not mentioned his wife Kalpana Murmu Soren's bank account in the Bank of Baroda. So for this reason, we have complained to the Returning Officer and the Election Commission of India to invalidate his nomination in the forthcoming elections," he concluded.

However, JMM leader Manoj Pandey on Friday clarified all the allegations of the BJP about the age of the Jharkhand CM and said there was no need to do politics on this as everything was crystal clear.

Manoj Pandey said, "Everything is crystal clear. All the information related to CM Soren is in the public domain. We do not believe in telling lies. He was born in 1975, so according to that he is 49 years old now."

"If there were any mistakes earlier, then they should be corrected. There is no need to raise questions on such things. The JMM neither promotes fake things nor presents fake documents. We are not among those who have not passed even class eight and talk of a degree in political science. We don't tick the column of being unmarried if we are married. So, we are not like that," he added.