Blitz Bureau
RANCHI: Former Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Ranchi on August 30. Soren along with a large number of his supporters switched over to the saffron camp in the presence of Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Ranchi. The development came days after the tribal leader met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and resigned from the JMM.
“After I was put under surveillance by the Jharkhand government in Delhi and Kolkata, my resolve to join BJP strengthened,” said Soren after joining the party.
He said the BJP can save the tribals’ identity and check infiltration in Jharkhand’s Santhal Pargana. He also added that he will fulfil whatever responsibilities the party will assign him.
The veteran leader got emotional while speaking about JMM and said he had nurtured the party with his sweat and blood. “The party humiliated and insulted me. I am compelled to join the BJP…I was not in a position to tolerate humiliation,” said Soren Champai Soren, also known as ‘Jharkhand’s Tiger’ for his significant role in the fight for statehood, became Chief Minister on February 2, following Hemant Soren’s resignation and arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.
After Hemant Soren was granted bail, he resumed the office on July 4 forcing Champai Soren to resign. Speculation was rife since then as Champai was unhappy with the party’s decision. In a letter to party supremo Shibu Soren on August 28, Champai said he was compelled to quit after being “aggrieved by the present style of functioning of the JMM and its policies”.
“I have never imagined that I would quit JMM, a party which is like a family to me… The turn of events of the past forced me to make this decision with much pain…I am pained to say that the party has deviated from its principle,” the letter said.
