(L-R) JMM leader Champai Soren with Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The BJP is pursuing the strategy of wait and watch as the drama within the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha unfolds. Former chief minister and senior party leader Champhai Soren is camping in Delhi, alleging that he has been humiliated, leading to increasing speculation that he will join the BJP.
Sources in the BJP said that Soren has got in touch with them, even when the elections are barely two months away. He landed in Delhi on Sunday, with some of his aides claiming that he was also looking for some medical check-ups and will be staying with his Delhi-based daughter.
However, in a much-publicised social media post, Soren let known that all was not well and that he was humiliated in the party; he said that he now has three options. “First, to retire from politics, second, to form my own separate organisation and third, if I find a companion on this path, then to travel further with him. From that day till today, and till the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections, all options are open for me in this journey,” he said in a post on X.
BJP sources said that while the party is willing to accommodate him in a senior position, possibly as the governor to a state. But, for the BJP, the major gain is if Soren goes the Jitan Manjhi way and forms a new tribal political outfit. A senior general secretary of the party said that the BJP was keen to win a chunk of the tribal votes in the state, where it had set its sights on for long. Soren, sources said, wants to take the next few steps with some loyal legislators.
In response to Soren’s post, Manjhi responded, calling him a “tiger” and welcomed him to the “NDA family”. “Champai da, you were a tiger, you are a tiger and you will remain a tiger. Welcome to the NDA family. Johar Tiger,” Manjhi’s post read.
Soren, who was made the chief minister when the current CM, Hemant Soren, was sent to jail, was unhappy that he was removed from the post after Hemant’s return. A longtime aide of JMM founder and Hemant’s father, Shibu Soren, Champai has also been unhappy with the rise of Hemant’s wife Kalpana.
Elections to the 81-member Jharkhand assembly are scheduled to be held in November–December this year.