Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren joined the BJP today
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader today joined the BJP in Ranchi. Mr Soren along with a large number of his supporters joined the BJP in the presence of Babulal Marandi, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Himanta Biswa Sarma and other senior party leaders. The veteran politician visibly became emotional after he was welcomed into the party.
"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.
"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.
Mr Soren's joining 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.
The 67-year-old tribal leader had resigned as an MLA of the state assembly and a minister in the Jharkhand Cabinet two days back.
He also shot off a letter to JMM Chief Shibu Soren stating he was forced to quit after being aggrieved by the present style of functioning of the party and its policies. "My decision (to join BJP) is in the interest of Jharkhand... I am used to struggles," he said.
"I have never ever imagined in my dreams that I would quit JMM, a party which is like a family to me... The turn of events of the past forced me to take this decision with much pain...I am pained to say that the party has deviated from its principle," he said in the letter.
Mr Soren, also known among party workers as the "Jharkhand Tiger" for his significant contribution to the struggle for creating Jharkhand state in the 1990s, had said it was meant to save tribal identity and existence, which is at stake due to "rampant" infiltration from Bangladesh.
Only BJP seems serious on this issue and other parties are ignoring it for the sake of vote bank politics, he had said.
Mr Soren had taken oath as the 12th Chief Minister of Jharkhand on February 2 this year. He then resigned from the post on July 3, a day before JMM executive president Hemant Soren took oath as the 13th chief minister of Jharkhand on July 4.
Earlier this month, the senior JMM leader had claimed that he was deeply upset over the treatment he received after Hemant Soren's return from jail.
On August 27, in a late night post, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that Mr Soren would be joining the BJP, calling him "distinguished adivasi leader of the country".