Former Jharkhand chief minister and incumbent water resources minister Champai Soren on Saturday rejected rumours of him joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the assembly elections.
“I don’t know what rumours are being spread. I don’t know what news is being run so I cannot tell whether it’s true or not, I don’t know anything about it...Hum jahan par hain vahi par hain (I am here only),” Soren, who served as CM in the absence of Hemant Soren, was quoted by ANI as saying.
Hemant Soren was forced to resign as chief minister on January 31 before being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged land scam case. In his absence, Champai Soren served as the chief minister from February 2 to July 3.
On June 28, Hemant Soren was granted bail by the Jharkhand high court in the case. On July 4, he was sworn in as the chief minister once again. In his cabinet, the 49-year-old leader included Champai Soren, who was allotted the Water Resources Department, besides Higher Education and Technical Education portfolios.
What was Champai Soren's fault?': BJP
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has been critical of the JMM leadership over how Champai Soren was replaced as the CM.
“He is a huge personality... 3.5 crore people of Jharkhand were happy with his work... But the way he was removed from the CM post, was unfortunate. It was a setback that a good person was removed from the CM's chair. What was his fault?” BJP MP Deepak Prakash told ANI, while noting that inclusion of Champai Soren in the party depends on the central leadership.
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Earlier in the day, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is the election co-incharge for the state, had refused to give a firm indication on the speculations.
"No one is in touch with us yet. I am also hearing these reports from the channels. Champai Soren is a very senior leader, I do not want to make any informal comment about him," he was quoted by ANI as saying.
{{/usCountry}}"No one is in touch with us yet. I am also hearing these reports from the channels. Champai Soren is a very senior leader, I do not want to make any informal comment about him," he was quoted by ANI as saying.
{{/usCountry}}Later in a post on X, Sarma said, "If any work was done in the 5 years of JMM-Cong in Jharkhand, it was done only during the 6 months of Champai Soren's tenure. Now Champai ji's photo has disappeared from every advertisement."
(With agency inputs)