NEW DELHI: Former Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren, who is on his way out of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) after alleging “insult and humiliation” by the party, on Wednesday said he will not retire from politics and is ready to chart a new path, either by forming an organisation or by joining hands with any “good friend (ally)” who comes along the way.
Champai, who was in the national capital amid reports that he is exploring options of joining the BJP, said he will take a final decision on his future course of action in a week’s time. The former chief minister lost his cool when reporters suggested that there may not be enough time for forming a new party.
“What is your problem? When 30,000 to 40,000 supporters have assembled here for me on a day’s call, why do you think forming a new party will be difficult for me? I can easily form a new party or align with a friend,” Champai Soren said.
Champai was sworn in as 12th chief minister of Jharkhand on February 2 after Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering case. The party had then chosen him over Hemant’s wife Kalpana Soren to lead the Jharkhand government. However, the bonhomie was short-lived. Less than a week after Hemant Soren was released on bail on June 28, Champai had to step down to make way for his predecessor.
The senior JMM leader has claimed that he was insulted and humiliated by the party and was forced to choose an alternative path for himself. Champai had taken to social media on August 18 to share details of how he was marginalised within the party and abruptly asked to resign as chief minister. Champai also alleged that all his government programmes in the first week of July, when he was the chief minister, were abruptly cancelled by the party leadership without his knowledge.
The post on X and his subsequent visit to Delhi via Kolkata, where reports said he met a senior BJP leader, set the stage for speculations of his new innings with the saffron party in Jharkhand.
Will Champai Soren add value to BJP in Jharkhand?
Champai Soren, without any doubt, is among the tallest tribal leaders of Jharkhand. The 67-year-old was once the most trusted aide of JMM patriarch Shibu Soren and had earned the sobriquet of “Jharkhand’s Tiger” for his contribution to statehood fight.
However, unlike Shibu Soren or his son Hemant, Champai does not have a huge mass following in the state. He is a 7-time MLA representing the Saraikela constituency in assembly and a very popular leader in the region.
Champai after raising the banner of revolt is hopeful of finding a “good friend” with whom he can move forward. The “good friend” is perhaps a refernce to the BJP, which has heaped praise on him but has been guarded in its reactions over possible induction of Champai Soren into the saffron party.
The BJP in Jharkhand already has two former tribal chief ministers in its fold – Babaulal Marandi and Arjun Munda. The saffron party also has a third former chief minister in the state Raghubar Das, who is now the governor of Odisha. However, the gubernatorial role does not rule him out from electoral politics in future as we saw during Lok Sabha elections when Tamilisai Soundararajan stepped down as Telangana governor and contested the polls for BJP in Tamil Nadu. In fact, Raghubar Das is the only leader to have completed the full term of five years as chief minister since Jharkhand was formed in 2000.
The BJP would want to use Champai to counter Hemant Soren but what role can the BJP offer him? That perhaps would be the key to BJP’s gameplan.
Nearly half of the 81 assembly seats in Jharkhand are dominated by tribal population and that is why induction of Champai Soren may help the BJP in some areas of the state. This is definitely important for the saffron party which failed to win even one of the five Lok Sabha seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes in the state — Khunti, Lohardaga, Singhbhum, Rajmahal and Dumka in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP would also be wary of any possible negative fallout of Hemant Soren’s charge of poaching leaders with money in an election year. The Jharkhand chief minister has accused the BJP of “destabilising parties and breaking families.” The BJP would rather have him out of the JMM but not in the saffron party till the assembly elections. The fact that none of the BJP leaders have met him till now, seems to suggest that the saffron party has still not taken a final decision on the issue.
Will Champai’s exit harm JMM?
And while the BJP top brass debates the pros and cons of having Champai Soren on board ahead of the year-end assembly elections, the JMM will definitely need to worry about the possible negative impact of his exit from the party in the Kolhan region.
On record, most of the JMM leaders have said that if Champai Soren decides to leave, it will not make any difference to the party’s electoral prospects. Champai, who started as an independent before joining the JMM, has been an integral part of the party for decades. His decision will influence several local leaders of Kolhan region and also the party workers for whom he has been a guiding figure.
However, JMM would cite the case of Sita Soren, the elder daughter-in-law of Shibu Soren who had joined the BJP ahead of Lok Sabha elections, but could not win in the family stronghold of Dumka.
Hemant Soren, who already faces the charge of making JMM a family party, will also have to contend with a strong BJP campaign against him over dynasty politics and also his “greed” for the chair.
The favourbale court observations in the ED case has emboldended Hemant Soren, who is confident of defeating the BJP if elections were held today.
In the last assembly elections, the JMM won a comfortable majority in the state in alliance with its INDIA bloc partners including the Congress.
The problem of part-time chief ministers
Champai Soren is not the first part-time chief minister to land in such a situation. There have been instances in the past when part-time chief ministers have been forced to make bitter partings with the party and their leaders.
Jeetan Manjhi, who was made chief minister of Bihar by Nitish Kumar after he resigned in 2014 taking moral responsibility for JD(U)’s humiliating Lok Sabha peformance is a case in point. Then we had O Paneerselvam who took the top post in Tamil Nadu when Jayalalitha was in legal trouble in disproportionate assets case and ended up leaving the party.
Clearly, Champai should have seen this coming. After all, he was not the first choice as chief minister for the JMM. As he gets ready to start a new chapter in his political life, he would hope that he gets to meet “good friend” on the way to kickstart his new innings.
Champai, who was in the national capital amid reports that he is exploring options of joining the BJP, said he will take a final decision on his future course of action in a week’s time. The former chief minister lost his cool when reporters suggested that there may not be enough time for forming a new party.
“What is your problem? When 30,000 to 40,000 supporters have assembled here for me on a day’s call, why do you think forming a new party will be difficult for me? I can easily form a new party or align with a friend,” Champai Soren said.
Champai was sworn in as 12th chief minister of Jharkhand on February 2 after Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering case. The party had then chosen him over Hemant’s wife Kalpana Soren to lead the Jharkhand government. However, the bonhomie was short-lived. Less than a week after Hemant Soren was released on bail on June 28, Champai had to step down to make way for his predecessor.
The senior JMM leader has claimed that he was insulted and humiliated by the party and was forced to choose an alternative path for himself. Champai had taken to social media on August 18 to share details of how he was marginalised within the party and abruptly asked to resign as chief minister. Champai also alleged that all his government programmes in the first week of July, when he was the chief minister, were abruptly cancelled by the party leadership without his knowledge.
The post on X and his subsequent visit to Delhi via Kolkata, where reports said he met a senior BJP leader, set the stage for speculations of his new innings with the saffron party in Jharkhand.
Will Champai Soren add value to BJP in Jharkhand?
Champai Soren, without any doubt, is among the tallest tribal leaders of Jharkhand. The 67-year-old was once the most trusted aide of JMM patriarch Shibu Soren and had earned the sobriquet of “Jharkhand’s Tiger” for his contribution to statehood fight.
However, unlike Shibu Soren or his son Hemant, Champai does not have a huge mass following in the state. He is a 7-time MLA representing the Saraikela constituency in assembly and a very popular leader in the region.
Champai after raising the banner of revolt is hopeful of finding a “good friend” with whom he can move forward. The “good friend” is perhaps a refernce to the BJP, which has heaped praise on him but has been guarded in its reactions over possible induction of Champai Soren into the saffron party.
The BJP in Jharkhand already has two former tribal chief ministers in its fold – Babaulal Marandi and Arjun Munda. The saffron party also has a third former chief minister in the state Raghubar Das, who is now the governor of Odisha. However, the gubernatorial role does not rule him out from electoral politics in future as we saw during Lok Sabha elections when Tamilisai Soundararajan stepped down as Telangana governor and contested the polls for BJP in Tamil Nadu. In fact, Raghubar Das is the only leader to have completed the full term of five years as chief minister since Jharkhand was formed in 2000.
The BJP would want to use Champai to counter Hemant Soren but what role can the BJP offer him? That perhaps would be the key to BJP’s gameplan.
Nearly half of the 81 assembly seats in Jharkhand are dominated by tribal population and that is why induction of Champai Soren may help the BJP in some areas of the state. This is definitely important for the saffron party which failed to win even one of the five Lok Sabha seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes in the state — Khunti, Lohardaga, Singhbhum, Rajmahal and Dumka in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP would also be wary of any possible negative fallout of Hemant Soren’s charge of poaching leaders with money in an election year. The Jharkhand chief minister has accused the BJP of “destabilising parties and breaking families.” The BJP would rather have him out of the JMM but not in the saffron party till the assembly elections. The fact that none of the BJP leaders have met him till now, seems to suggest that the saffron party has still not taken a final decision on the issue.
Will Champai’s exit harm JMM?
And while the BJP top brass debates the pros and cons of having Champai Soren on board ahead of the year-end assembly elections, the JMM will definitely need to worry about the possible negative impact of his exit from the party in the Kolhan region.
On record, most of the JMM leaders have said that if Champai Soren decides to leave, it will not make any difference to the party’s electoral prospects. Champai, who started as an independent before joining the JMM, has been an integral part of the party for decades. His decision will influence several local leaders of Kolhan region and also the party workers for whom he has been a guiding figure.
However, JMM would cite the case of Sita Soren, the elder daughter-in-law of Shibu Soren who had joined the BJP ahead of Lok Sabha elections, but could not win in the family stronghold of Dumka.
Hemant Soren, who already faces the charge of making JMM a family party, will also have to contend with a strong BJP campaign against him over dynasty politics and also his “greed” for the chair.
The favourbale court observations in the ED case has emboldended Hemant Soren, who is confident of defeating the BJP if elections were held today.
In the last assembly elections, the JMM won a comfortable majority in the state in alliance with its INDIA bloc partners including the Congress.
The problem of part-time chief ministers
Champai Soren is not the first part-time chief minister to land in such a situation. There have been instances in the past when part-time chief ministers have been forced to make bitter partings with the party and their leaders.
Jeetan Manjhi, who was made chief minister of Bihar by Nitish Kumar after he resigned in 2014 taking moral responsibility for JD(U)’s humiliating Lok Sabha peformance is a case in point. Then we had O Paneerselvam who took the top post in Tamil Nadu when Jayalalitha was in legal trouble in disproportionate assets case and ended up leaving the party.
Clearly, Champai should have seen this coming. After all, he was not the first choice as chief minister for the JMM. As he gets ready to start a new chapter in his political life, he would hope that he gets to meet “good friend” on the way to kickstart his new innings.