GUWAHATI: Out-on-bail Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Hemant Soren will return as Jharkhand chief minister. This comes after the ruling INDIA bloc arrived at a consensus in this regard at a meeting held in state capital Ranchi on Wednesday, July 3.
Soren was released from jail on June 28 after spending five months behind bars in connection with a money laundering case related to an alleged land scam.
Granting him bail last week, the Jharkhand High Court said it did not appear Soren had committed any offence.
Before being arrested Soren had resigned as chief minister and Champai Soren took over.
Reports said Champai Sorren is likely to tender his resignation later this evening.
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The INDIA bloc’s meeting took place at the Chief Minister’s residence in Ranchi. This will mark the third time Hemant Soren is sworn in as Chief Minister of Jharkhand.
Reports also said that Champai Soren had said he felt “insulted” at the development during a meeting of the JMM legislature party. However, the party went ahead and named Hemant Soren as the legislature party leader paving the way for his return as chief minister.
The BJP is likely to exploit the “insult” of Champai Soren in its favour with state assembly elections months away.
The tone of such a likelihood was set by Nishikant Dubey, BJP MP from Jharkhand’s Godda.
Dubey criticised the JMM in a social media post, saying that the “Champai Soren era is over in Jharkhand” adding that “In the family-oriented party, people outside the family have no political future. I wish the Chief Minister drew inspiration from Bhagwan Birsa Munda and stood up against the corrupt Hemant Soren ji.”
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also chipped in with a tweet. "The removal of a senior tribal leader from the post of Chief Minister in Jharkhand by the JMM and Congress party is deeply distressing. I am certain that the people of Jharkhand will strongly condemn this action and firmly reject it."
Champai Soren, 67, a veteran JMM leader, has been associated with party founder and Hemant Soren’s father, Shibu Soren, for decades and previously served as a cabinet minister in Hemant Soren’s government.
