Former Jharkhand Chief minister Champai Soren joined BJP today at Dhurwa ground ahead of upcoming Assembly elections. Soren the MLA from Saraiekella joined BJP in presence of Union Agriculture Minister and Jharkhand BJP election in-charge Shivraj Singh Chouhan Assam Chief Minister and election co-incharge Himanta Biswa Sarma and BJP State president Babulal Marandi.
Champai Soren, who had taken oath as a minister in the Hemant Soren cabinet last month, had quit the JMM on August 28, claiming that the state government’s “present style of functioning and policies” forced him to leave the party which he served for many years. He also resigned as an MLA and a minister in the Jharkhand Cabinet.”
Addressing the gathering, Champai said, “I was embarrassed, and that's why I had decided to retire (from politics). However, because of the love and support of people of Jharkhand, I decided to not retire from politics. I have seen the struggle during the ‘Jharkhand andolan’,” Soren said after joining the BJP.
“I thought that I would launch a new party or join another party, but I will never stay in that organisation where I was embarrassed. Later, I decided to join a party (BJP) to continue serving the people of Jharkhand,” he added.
Champai Soren's induction into BJP is seen as a shot in the arm of the saffron party, looking to establish a foothold in the tribal belt of Jharkhand, where Scheduled Tribes make up about 26 per cent of the electorate.
He became the chief minister of Jharkhand on February 2, shortly after Hemant Soren resigned as the CM before being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.
Champai was appointed as Chief Minister after Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in February 2024. Under his leadership, the INDIA bloc won five of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state, three more than the last time. The INDIA bloc, meanwhile, won all the five ST-reserved seats in the state, highlighting the anger in the community over the arrest of its leader. While the opposition alliance bagged 37% votes - a rise of 5 percentage points - the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) registered a vote share of 48%, a drop of 8 percentage points over the previous general election.
Following the BJP's losses, questions had been raised about the leadership of party president Babulal Marandi, former chief minister Arjun Munda. In that context, the entry of Champai Soren fulfils to some extent the BJP's need for stalwart tribal leaders.
Of the four states that will see elections to their assemblies this year - the other three being Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra and Haryana - Jharkhand is the only one where the BJP is not in power. As of now, the battle in the state is shaping up to be a close, seat-by-seat contest. A bulk of the BJP's weak seats are in Santhal Pargana and Kolhan divisions, where Champai can help. In the latter, the huge Kurmi population has turned against the JMM as their demand for being included in the ST category hasn't been met.
