Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren’s joining BJP has been confirmed. He will officially join the party on August 30. After meeting Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, it was decided that rebel senior leader of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Champai Soren will join BJP. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has confirmed this in a post on Instagram. Now there is also a discussion that along with Champai Soren, many big leaders of JMM can also join him in BJP on August 30.
Himanta Biswa Sarma shared a post on Instagram. In this, along with the picture of the meeting of Home Minister Amit Shah and Champai Soren, he wrote, “Former Chief Minister of Jharkhand and eminent tribal leader of our country Champai Soren ji met Honorable Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji some time ago. He will officially join BJP in Ranchi on August 30.”
Let us tell you that earlier there were speculations that Champai Soren can form his own party and can contest the upcoming Jharkhand assembly elections in alliance with BJP. After resigning from JMM, he had given three options. He had said that ‘I will not retire from politics. I had given three options, retirement, organization or friend. I will not retire, I will strengthen the party, form a new party and if I find a good friend on the way, I will move forward with him.’
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Why is BJP trying to woo Champai?
Let us tell you that Champai Soren, popularly known as Kolhan Tiger, was the most senior tribal leader in JMM after party patron Shibu Soren. His stature in JMM can be understood from the fact that when Hemant Soren decided to step down from the post of Chief Minister of Jharkhand due to ED’s arrest, Champai Soren was made the Chief Minister in place of his cabinet colleague Joba Majhi. However, after being released from Ranchi jail, Hemant Soren returned to the CM office on July 4. Champai Soren was included in the Jharkhand cabinet as the new Education Minister, but this did not go down well with the ‘Tiger of Kolhan’. And a few days ago, he wrote a long post on X and announced his decision to leave the party.
The history of Champai Soren’s strong hold in the Kolhan region is quite old. He is known as a working class leader who fought for Jharkhand under the leadership of Shibu Soren. He himself is proud of the fact that more than 10 thousand youths from the local villages of this region got jobs in industrial establishments like Tata Group. It was because of the tribal dominated area Kolhan that JMM ensured its victory in the 2019 assembly elections. Despite the Modi wave and Ram Mandir wave, Hemant Soren’s JMM won 11 out of 14 assembly constituencies and two were captured by the Congress. Due to these numbers, JMM recorded its best ever electoral numbers in Jharkhand elections. Therefore, it is believed that Champai Soren is important for BJP to make a strong hold in this region.
How powerful is the Kolhan Tiger?
Kolhan Tiger Champai Soren belongs to the influential Santhal tribe of Jharkhand. According to the 2011 census, the tribal population in Jharkhand is 86 lakh 45 thousand 42 people out of the total population of 3 crore 29 lakh 88 thousand 134. In this too, the Santhal population alone is 27 lakh 54 thousand 723 lakh. Champai Soren is counted among the top leaders of the Santhal tribe. Champai, who played an active role in the movement demanding Jharkhand state, is also considered to have a strong influence among the people of other tribes.
The Kolhan region from which Champai Soren comes includes districts like Saraikela, East Singhbhum and West Singhbhum. There are 14 assembly seats in these three districts. In the 2019 Jharkhand elections, BJP could not even open its account in this region. JMM won 11 seats in this region, while Congress won two seats and an independent candidate won one seat.
What is the reason behind Champai Soren’s rebellion?
Champai Soren is one of those leaders who have been with Shibu Soren since the time of Jharkhand state movement. Champai’s stature in JMM and Soren family can be gauged from the fact that on many occasions the party’s working president Hemant Soren has been seen touching his feet and taking his blessings. Champai’s closeness to the Soren family was also a big reason that when Hemant was about to go to jail, the party chose him for the post of CM despite Shibu Soren’s daughter-in-law Sita Soren being an MLA. However, this decision also became the reason for Champai’s displeasure.
Champai was given the command of the government when the ED arrested Chief Minister Hemant Soren in a corruption case. Just before the arrest, Hemant submitted his resignation to the Governor and after this a new government was formed under the leadership of Champai. Champai has also given the reasons for rebelling by posting on social media. Champai posted on the social media platform X and said that he was humiliated and removed from the post of Chief Minister. The agenda of the meeting of the legislative party was not even told and all the programs were cancelled two days before it. He was forced to resign from the post of leader of the legislative party.