New Delhi/Ranchi
A day after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren on Tuesday confirmed about his plan to join the BJP on August 30.
“When I had come on August 18, I had made my position clear. At first, I thought that I would retire from politics but then due to the public support, I decided not to. I have decided to join the BJP,” Champai told media persons in Delhi. When asked if he is joining BJP on August 30, he said, “Yes”. This was Champai’s first confirmation on his own and it followed Assam CM and Jharkhand BJP co-incharge Himant Biswa Sarma’s revelation on social media in this regard.
Sarma, who facilitated the meeting between Champai and Shah, also posted on X about the veteran tribal leader set to join the BJP on August 30. Sarma also posted a picture of Champai along with his son meeting Shah.
The development puts an end to speculations about Champai’s plan of action after he made his decision to severe ties with the JMM public on the ground that he was “humiliated and insulted” in the party which he nurtured and served for over four decades.
In an open letter, he had expressed his anguish at being unceremoniously removed from the Chief Ministership soon after Hemant Soren returned after being granted bail in the case of money laundering allegedly linked to a land scam.
However, Champai is yet to resign as a Minister in the Hemant Soren Government and also the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
Champai had taken over as the Chief Minister on February 2 after the ED arrested Hemant Soren and had to resign on July 3 to pave the way for Hemant’s return to the top.
Having experienced severe reverses and lost all the five Lok Sabha seats reserved for STs recently, which many say was due to tribals’ resentment against Hemant Soren’s arrest, the BJP expects ‘Kolhan Tiger’ Champai Soren to stem the tide in the Kolhan region where he has considerable sway besides having an overall impact on other tribal Assembly seats in Jharkhand. The State Assembly has 28 seats reserved for STs.
However, Champai’s entry into the BJP fold could ruffle many a feather in the party already facing severe factionalism. Though the BJP is unlikely to name its Chief Ministerial candidate in the run-up to the poll, it is widely perceived that it will be former CM and State BJP president Babulal Marandi, who rejoined the BJP after merging his JVM (P), in the event of the BJP returning to power. What will be the role of Champai then?
Will his entry not lead to the creation of one more faction besides that of Marandi, Arjun Munda and Raghubar Das? Will the JMM MLAs who may follow Champai into the BJP be given tickets from their turfs at the cost of BJP loyalists? These are issues that the BJP brass would need to sort out fast.
