New Delhi: On a day when Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren launched his government’s ambitious ‘Mukhyamantri Maiyan Samman Yojana’, which involves transfer of ₹1,000 cash to women in the state, former CM and his Cabinet colleague, Champai Soren has landed in New Delhi to discuss his future course of action with the BJP leadership.
On his arrival here, Champai denied that he was joining BJP. However, by the evening, he released a detailed statement on X and said that he felt humiliated and was shattered after he was asked to resign as chief minister to pave way for Hemant.
“For two days, I sat quietly and introspected, kept searching for my mistake in the whole incident. I did not have greed for power, but this was a blow to my self-respect and I couldn’t go to anyone to share my plight… Where could I express the pain inflicted by my own people?” Champai posted on X. He alleged that JMM‘s central executive meeting has not been held for years and one-sided orders were being passed.
Champai said all options were open for him which include forming his own party or joining any other party before the Jharkhand assembly polls.
Sources told ET that Champai is in discussions with the BJP leadership and is likely to join the party in the coming days. He reached New Delhi on Sunday via Kolkata. Though there is no official schedule to meet the BJP leadership, Champai will meet top leaders during his three-day stay here.
ET learnt that the two demands which have been pushed forward by Champai is a ticket for himself from his Saraikela seat and for his son Babulal Soren from Ghatshila. For the past few days, Jharkhand BJP leaders have been praising Champai for the good work done during his tenure as CM.
“The decision will be taken by Champai Soren himself and our party leaders in case he wants to join the party. But we maintain that during his tenure as CM several welfare initiatives were taken. The cash transfer scheme which Hemant Soren has launched was also decided by Champai Soren when he was the chief minister,” Deepak Prakash, former Jharkhand BJP chief, told ET.
With Champai, BJP is eyeing a comeback in the Kolhan region of the state where the party couldn’t win a single seat out of the 14 during 2019 assembly elections. Champai, called Kolhan Tiger, decides the Kolhan politics of JMM. JMM and Congress alliance won all 14 assembly seats in 2019 and all the ST reserved Lok Sabha seats in 2024. With Champai in its fold, BJP would try to snatch a share of tribal votes from JMM.
Hemant on Sunday addressed two public meetings in Jharkhand and launched the cash transfer scheme for women and launched an attack on BJP. “It has been their conspiracy to poach MLAs with money power. The Election Commission is in their hands and they will decide when to call for elections in the state. But whenever there will be an election, we will wipe out BJP from the state,” Soren said.
The JMM leadership has started working on the strategies for the Kolhan region. “There is no doubt that the party relied on Champai Soren for any decision related to Kolhan. But by drifting towards BJP, he has lost the goodwill he earned during the Jharkhand movement and all these years fighting for the tribal community. There is a history of leaders moving to BJP from JMM and all vanished with time with no political future,” JMM leader Sudivya Kumar Sonu told ET. “His impact in Kolhan region can be accessed from the fact that no MLA from the region decided to go with him.”
