Putting an end to speculations for the last couple of days that he is joining BJP, the former Jharkhand chief minister and senior JMM leader Chaampai Soren announced that he may float a new political party within a week. Ahead of the Jharkhand assembly elections, he said that his party will reach an electoral understanding with a party.
However, he asserted that he would not quit politics. Soren said he was firm on his plans after “facing humiliation at the hands of leaders of JMM”, a party to which the veteran leader claimed that he devoted his entire life.
Stating that the humiliation faced in the party by forcefully making him quit as Chief Minister made him opt for other options. In a statement, Champai Soren alleged that all his government programmes in the first week of July, when he was the chief minister, were abruptly cancelled by the party leadership without his knowledge.
He said he kept quiet as he was not greedy for power but his self-respect was hurt. “No one from JMM contacted me. This is the land of Jharkhand… I have struggled since my student life. I participated in the agitation for a separate Jharkhand state under the leadership of party supremo Shibu Soren,” Champai Soren said.
The 67-year-old tribal leader has earned the nickname ‘Jharkhand’s Tiger’ for his contribution to the fight to create a separate state in the 1990s.The JMM leader said he might join hands with any outfit if he gets a like-minded organisation or a friend during his next journey.
“I had mentioned three options – retirement, organisation, or friend. I will not retire; I will strengthen the party, a new party, and if I meet a good friend on the way, then will move ahead with them,” Champai Soren told reporters, leaving open the possibility of future alliances.
He said that no one from JMM contacted him. “This is the land of Jharkhand…I have struggled since my student life. I participated in the agitation for a separate Jharkhand state under the leadership of party supremo Shibu Soren,” Champai Soren said.