Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren Joins BJP
Champai Soren, the former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on August 30, 2023, in Ranchi. This move comes ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the state. Soren was once a close aide of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) founder Shibu Soren, but he quit the party on August 28, 2023.
Soren, along with a large number of his supporters, switched over to the BJP in the presence of union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Soren, who had taken oath as a minister in the Hemant Soren cabinet last month, claimed that the state government's "present style of functioning and policies" compelled him to leave the party he served for many years.
Soren became the Chief Minister of Jharkhand on February 2, 2023, shortly after Hemant Soren resigned from the top post before being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case. Champai Soren quit the post on July 3, 2023, and Hemant Soren took oath as the Chief Minister again on July 4, 2023, after he was released on bail.
According to reports, Champai Soren was unhappy with the way he was unceremoniously removed from the Chief Minister post to make way for Hemant Soren to become Chief Minister again. He reportedly felt "insulted" by the way he was removed.
Meanwhile, JMM legislator Ramdas Soren took oath as a minister in the Hemant Soren government in Jharkhand on August 30, 2023. The Ghatshila MLA replaced former Chief Minister Champai Soren in the state cabinet. Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar administered the oath of office and secrecy to Ramdas Soren at a function in Raj Bhavan in the presence of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, senior leaders of the JMM-led alliance, and several government officials. Ramdas Soren was inducted into the state cabinet after Champai Soren resigned as a minister and an MLA.