Ex-Jharkhand CM Champai Soren joins BJP

Ranchi: Former Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren joined the BJP on Friday, two days after he resigned from the JMM citing dissatisfaction with the party’s current style of functioning and "bitter humiliation".

Soren, along with a large number of his supporters, crossed over to the saffron party at a ceremony attended by Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma here.

The veteran politician visibly became emotional after he was welcomed into the saffron fold. After joining the saffron camp, he said, "After I was put under surveillance by the Jharkhand government in Delhi and Kolkata, my resolve to join BJP strengthened."

He also said the BJP can save the tribals' identity and check infiltration in Jharkhand's Santhal Pargana.

Alleging that the tribal identity was put "at stake" by the Congress, Champai Soren said, "I am committed to delivering justice to the people."

"I nurtured JMM with my sweat and blood but was humiliated and insulted. I am compelled to join the BJP. I am now proud to be a member of the world's largest political party. I was not in a position to tolerate humiliation and snooping," Champai Soren said.

The joining of the 67-year-old leader to the BJP is seen as a significant boost for the party’s efforts to strengthen its connection with the Scheduled Tribes, a strong support base of the JMM.

He was a close aide of JMM supremo Shibu Soren. Champai Soren, known as 'Jharkhand's Tiger' for his pivotal role in the fight for statehood, was appointed as chief minister on February 2, following Hemant Soren's resignation and subsequent arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.

He left the post on July 3, clearing the way for Hemant Soren to resume office on July 4 after being granted bail.

In a letter to party supremo Shibu Soren on Wednesday, 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," he said in the letter.

Champai had previously met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi to announce his decision to join the BJP.

On Tuesday, Champai had asserted that he would be switching sides to save tribal identity and existence, which is "at stake in the state’s Santhal Pargana due to “rampant” infiltration from Bangladesh".

These intruders are causing economic and social harm to the local people, and if they are not stopped, the existence of "our society in Santhal Pargana will be in danger", he had claimed.

In many areas, including Pakur and Rajmahal, the number of infiltrators has become more than that of tribals, Champai alleged.

Born on November 11, 1956, in Jilingora village in Jharkhand's Seraikela-Kharsawan district, Soren began his political career by winning a by-election to the Saraikela seat as an Independent MLA in 1991.

He later contested and won the seat again in 1995 as a JMM candidate. Four years later, he contested the assembly polls from the seat on a JMM ticket and defeated BJP's Panchu Tudu.

Inputs from PTI