Jharkhand Mukti Morcha general secretary Mukti Nath Upadhyay on Friday resigned from the primary membership of the party taking exception to the conduct of his party leader and Union Coal Minister Shibu Soren.

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Soren, against whom an arrest warrant has been issued in a 30-year old murder case, is untraceable.
 
"I cannot remain in a party whose leader is absconding and refusing to face Parliament and the people," Upadhyay said.

"I have sent my resignation letter to Soren and I have also verbally told him about my decision," he added.

"I stand for clean and healthy politics and my conscience says that I should not be a party to what is happening [in the party]. I feel suffocated," he said.
 
Upadhyay said he had advised Soren to quit his ministerial post and surrender before the Jamtara Court. "He did not heed my advice and went underground. Soren's conduct has not only lowered his image, but the image of all partymen," he said.