Champai Soren to join BJP today, Shivraj Singh Chauhan to induct him in party

Jamshedpur: Champai Soren will officially join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday at a grand function in Ranchi.

BJP senior leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will induct Champai into the saffron fold at Ranchi’s Shaheed Ground in the presence of thousands of BJP workers and senior party leaders of Jharkhand.

Champai confirmed his decision to join the BJP on Monday evening after meeting Home Minister Amit Shah, along with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP’s co-election in-charge for Jharkhand, in Delhi.

Champai has served as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand after the incumbent CM Hemant Soren was arrested and imprisoned in connection with a land scam case. The Kolhan Tiger was made to step down for Hemant Soren to retain his chief ministerial position days after the latter was released on bail on June 28.

Senior Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and former Chief Minister Champai resigned from the primary membership of the Shibu Soren-led party on Wednesday and relinquished all other positions he held within the JMM.

In his resignation letter to Shibu Soren, addressed to the JMM supremo as ‘Guruji,’ Champai expressed his dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs in the party, which compelled him to leave the JMM. Champai stated that the party has deviated from its original path, underlining in the letter that he was leaving the party with “great sadness.”

The former CM also mentioned that he never imagined leaving JMM — the party he considered his family — but recent events forced him to make this “difficult decision.”

Referring to Shibu Soren’s current health and inability to actively participate in politics, Champai wrote in his resignation letter, “There is no other forum in the party (besides reaching out to you) where we can express our grievances and concerns.”

The former CM also thanked Shibu Soren for the opportunities he received under his guidance during the Jharkhand movement and thereafter.