Ranchi/IBNS: The Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted bail to former state Chief Minister Hemant Soren in the land scam case, in a big relief for the JMM chief ahead of the assembly elections.

On January 31, the Enforcement Directorate formally arrested Hemant Soren in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land deal in Jharkhand.

Soren had resigned as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand before he got arrested by the ED.

After Soren resigned, veteran JMM leader Champai Soren took oath as the Chief Minister.

The JMM-Congress-RJD alliance has 47 MLAs, of whom 29 are from Soren's party and 17 are from the Congress. The RJD of former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Yadav has one.

The BJP has 25 MLAs and the AJSU, or All Jharkhand Students Union, has three. The remaining seats are divided between the NCP and a Left party (one each) and there are three independent MLAs.

The Jharkhand assembly elections are scheduled to be held in November-December 2024.