RANCHI: Former Jharkhand Chief Minster Champai Soren on Friday joined the BJP along with his supporters during an event organised in Ranchi.
Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, former Chief Minister Arjun Munda, State President Babulal Marandi, and others were present on the stage on this occasion.
Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that BJP will be strengthened with the arrival of Champai Soren; Tiger is still alive.
Targeting Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, he said that JMM has now become a party of husband-wife and brokers.
At the same time, Champai Soren said “I am pure at heart, I never thought that I would be spied on. A spy was placed behind the person who fought for Jharkhand. After that day we decided to join the party and serve the public.”
"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.
Jamshedpur MP Bidyut Baran Mahato also targeted Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), accusing it of promoting nepotism. Mahto added that while Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s efforts led to the creation of a separate Jharkhand state, Champai Soren had also fought for Jharkhand’s separation on his own merit and had strengthened the JMM.
However, JMM has now resorted to disrespecting the movement’s leaders due to its focus on family politics, he said.
Notably, the political drama that unfolded a fortnight ago after Champai Soren expressed his anguish and grief through a social media post while staying in Delhi pouring his heart out saying that he was 'humiliated and ridiculed' in the JMM, which strengthened the speculations that he may join the BJP.
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. Champai further added that a new chapter of his life was going to start, and he has kept all options open for him
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.
(With inputs from Agencies)