Want Champai Soren to join BJP: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Soren had recently said that he was distancing himself from the JMM, which leads the ruling alliance in Jharkhand.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said he wants former Jharkhand CM and senior Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Champai Soren to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) amid rumours of the latter’s switch ahead of the state elections.
Speaking to reporters in Ranchi, Sarma, who is the co-incharge of the BJP for the Jharkhand assembly polls, said he has also been in touch with Champai Soren for the past six months. Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the Jharkhand BJP in-charge.
“I personally want Champai Soren to join the BJP and strengthen us. However, he is too senior for me to make any comment on him,” Sarma said.
Sarma’s statement comes on a day when Soren is reportedly on his way to New Delhi amid speculations that he could meet senior BJP leaders in the national capital. Soren had recently said that he was distancing himself from the JMM, which leads the ruling alliance in Jharkhand.
“If he is in Delhi, we will try to speak. I have been talking to him both directly and indirectly for the past six months. However, we never discussed politics during those conversations. It seems that time has arrived for us to also discuss a bit of politics,” the Assam CM said.
Champai Soren was in Delhi last week as well, though denied being in touch with the BJP. However, he has made it public his decision to leave the JMM and embark on a separate political journey. In that direction, he underlined that he was exploring both options — forming a new party or joining another.