Uncles of Shashinath Jha seek JMM's ouster from UPA

Varanasi, Dec 6 (UNI) A day after the CBI court sentenced former Union Minister Shibu Soren to life term in the 1994 Shashinath Jha murder case, two of Jha's uncles here today demanded that UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi make efforts for the ouster of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) from the ruling coalition.

Shiveshwar Jha and Dharmeshwar Jha, the two uncles of Shashinath Jha said the family was not fully satisfied with the court's verdict, but will still respect it. ''Shibu Soren and the four other accused deserved nothing less than capital punishment, but our family will respect the CBI court's verdict,'' the septugenarian brothers of Late Gangeshwar Jha -- father of Shashikant, who passed away within two years from son's killing -- said here today.

Interacting with mediapersons at their ancestral house in the Bhadaini locality here, Shiveshwar Jha, elder of the two brothers demanded that the former Jharkhand Chief Minister should resign from the Lok Sabha as well as quit politics in the wake of the life sentence.

''Mr Soren should emulate much young but extremely austere cricketer-turned-BJP MP Navjot Singh Siddhu who resigned from Lok Sabha shortly after being convicted for culpable homicide by the Punjab and Haryana High Court recently,'' Mr Jha maintained.

He further joined younger brother Dharmeshwar in demanding that in the event of Mr Soren, not quitting Lok Sabha as well as active politics, both UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should make efforts for ouster of JMM from the ruling coalition at the Centre.

''Ms Gandhi is a woman who acquired an exalted status in national politics by refusing the post of Prime Minister. She now needs to further the same moral credentials by ousting the JMM from UPA in the event of Mr Soren not quitting from Lok Sabha and active politics,'' the Jha brothers added.

A special CBI court, yesterday, had sentenced Shibu Soren to life imprisonmentin the 1994 murder of his former private secretary Shashinath Jha and also imposed a fine of Rs five lakh on the JMM leader, which would go to the mother and two daughters of the deceased. The court also awarded life in prison to four other accused in the case alongwith a lesser fine of Rs 15,000 each.

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