Ranchi
The ongoing feud in JMM patriarch Shibu Soren’s family on Tuesday saw its badi bahu ditching the party and legislatorship to join the BJP in Delhi.
She did so through separate letters to Shibu Soren and Jharkhand Assembly Speaker (Ravindra Nath Mahto).
“Since the demise of my late husband Durga Soren, who was a leading warrior of the Jharkhand movement and a great revolutionary, I and my family have been victims of continuous neglect. We have been isolated by the party and family members, which has been extremely painful for me. I had hoped that the situation would improve with time, but unfortunately, it didn’t happen,” Sita wrote.
She even alleged a deep-rooted conspiracy against her. “The party has now fallen into the hands of those whose vision and objectives do not match our values and ideals. Despite the tireless efforts of Shri Shibu Soren (Guruji Baba) who worked hard to keep us all together, unfortunately, his efforts also failed. I have recently come to know that there is a deep-rooted conspiracy against me and my family also. A conspiracy is being hatched. I am very sad. I have firmly decided that I will have to leave JMM and this family,” Sita said further.
Sita is the eldest daughter-in-law of JMM chief Shibu Soren. She jumped into active politics following the sudden demise of her husband Durga Soren. She has been regularly winning the Jama assembly seat since 2009, which was earlier represented by her husband.
In fact, incarcerated former chief minister Hemant Soren too began scaling the ladders of power politics only after his elder brother Durga’s death.
While the JMM has been winning the Dumka Assembly seat, the BJP had won the Dumka Lok Sabha seat in 2019 and has already announced to field its sitting MP Sunil Soren once more.
But after Sita’s advent, the buzz has it that the BJP might go in for a juggle by fielding her or her daughter Rajshree against any probable member of the Soren family who fights from the seat. More so, since there is also speculation about jailed former CM Hemant Soren or his wife Kalpana Soren fighting from the Dumka Lok Sabha seat.
As Sita ‘encountered’ horse trading charges during the 2012 Rajya Sabha biennials, Rajshree could be the ‘popular second preference’, and she is also young, educated and dynamic, a BJP leader said.
Recently, in a landmark judgment, a seven-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court held that lawmakers, including MPs and MLAs, cannot claim immunity and are liable to be prosecuted under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) if they receive monetary benefits for their votes and speech in Parliament or Assembly.
Sita was accused of taking a bribe to vote for a particular candidate in the 2012 Rajya Sabha Elections and a complaint was subsequently filed with the Chief Election Commissioner seeking a CBI probe into the case. She is facing trial and a judgment is expected soon.
Sita’s exit from the JMM was also hastened by the recent Cabinet formation of the Champai Soren government wherein she was ignored and Hemant’s younger brother Basant Soren was inducted. Differences within the Soren family was crystal clear when Sita went public saying she would never accept Kalpana Soren as the Chief Minister, as was being planned for some time within the ruling dispensation.
Then again, Kalpana taking the political plunge, hogging limelight and taking interest in Santhal Paragana politics too did not go well with her. Her exit is also a major blow to the image of the JMM’s first family.
Former Chief Minister and Jharkhand BJP chief Babulal Marandi said Sita’s letter indicated not just the affairs of the JMM but of the whole State. It also shows that she was deeply hurt.
For his part, JMM spokesman-cum-party general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said at a news conference: “Our best wishes are with her. Every party worker left no stone unturned to ensure her victory regularly in Jama after Durga Bhaiya’s death. Today also we spoke to Guruji (Shibu Soren) in the morning after learning that she is angry. Guruji turned us away saying he would talk to her as it was his family affair. But, in less than two hours she joined the BJP.”
