Champai Soren also spoke about the events leading up to his dismissal as chief minister. (Photo: PTI)
JMM leader Champai Soren on Sunday said he had experienced a “bitter humiliation” as chief minister and had three options open to him, including fielding a new team.
His comment hinting that he might quit the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) came soon after he arrived in Delhi amid speculation about a possible switch to the BJP as party supremo and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren accused the saffron party of “poaching” MLAs and “dividing society”.
Reacting to Champai Soren’s post, BJP leader Babulal Marandi said this is “just the beginning of the downfall of JMM, which has deviated from its ideology.”
In a statement, Champai Soren claimed that all his government programmes in the first week of July, when he was chief minister, were abruptly cancelled by the party leadership without his knowledge.
He said he remained silent because he was not greedy for power, but that his self-esteem was hurt.
“After so much humiliation, I was forced to look for an alternative path,” Champai Soren said in a post on his social media.
Friends of Johar,After watching today’s news, many questions might arise in all your minds. After all, what happened that brought the son of a poor farmer living in a small village of Kolhan to this turning point?
At the beginning of his public life, he was the voice of the workers against the industries…
— Champai Soren (@ChampaiSoren) August 18, 2024
The former prime minister said he had announced at the legislative party meeting that “a new chapter in my life will begin from today.”
“I had three options. First, to retire from politics, second, to form an independent group, and third, if I found any allies, to go ahead with them. From that day till today, and till the next Jharkhand Assembly elections, all options are open to me in this journey,” he said in a post on X.
Champai Soren also spoke about the events leading up to his dismissal as chief minister after Hemant Soren was released on bail.
“When I asked about the reasons for the cancellation (of his events), I was told that there was a meeting of party lawmakers on July 3 and that he would not be able to attend any government programme until then,” he said.
“Can there be anything more humiliating in a democracy than having a prime minister’s programme cancelled by someone else?” he asked.
Champai Soren claimed that though a chief minister has the authority to call a meeting of the legislative party, he was not even informed of the agenda of the meeting.
“During the meeting, I was asked to resign. I was taken aback. Since I had no desire for power, I resigned immediately. However, my self-esteem was deeply hurt,” Champai Soren added.
The JMM leader said he was emotional and struggling to control his tears.
“But the only thing he seemed interested in (referring to Prime Minister Hemant Soren, without naming him) was the presidency. I felt I didn’t exist, I had no presence in the party to which I had dedicated my entire life,” he said.
Champai Soren said he faced many such humiliations, which he preferred not to detail at this time.
He also stressed that this is his personal battle and that he does not intend to involve any party member or harm the organization.
“I would never dream of harming the party that we have built with our blood and sweat. But circumstances have arisen in such a way that…” he added.
The JMM leader also mentioned that party leader Shibu Soren is not actively involved in politics due to health reasons. “If he had been active, things would have been different,” Champai Soren said.
The former prime minister said that during his tenure as prime minister he took numerous decisions in the public interest.
“The people of the state will evaluate the decisions I took during my tenure, taking into account the elderly, women, youth, students and all sectors of society,” he added.
Champai Soren assumed charge as the 12th Chief Minister of Jharkhand on February 2, shortly after his predecessor Hemant Soren resigned just before he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.
Hemant Soren was released from jail on June 28 after the high court granted him bail. On July 3, he was elected as the leader of the JMM legislature party.
Champai Soren subsequently submitted his resignation to the governor, paving the way for Hemant Soren to take over as chief minister for the third time.
Reacting to Champai Soren’s post, Jharkhand BJP chief Babulal Marandi said the JMM has become a “one-family party”.
“Champai Soren ji, who had dedicated his entire life to the party, was humiliated and removed from the post of chief minister. His rights were violated and his programmes were forcibly cancelled,” he said.
Senior JMM leader and minister Mithilesh Thakur said Champai Soren is the senior leader of the party and if there is any problem, it will be resolved.
“JMM is a family and if there is any problem in the family, it will be resolved within the family,” he said.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: August 19, 2024 | 7:03 a.m. IS
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