Champai Soren had told him three options, and now he has chosen one. It is final. He is saying that he will not retire from politics. The former Chief Minister of Jharkhand had also told that one of the three options was to retire from politics. The other two options were to form a new political party for himself or start a new political journey with someone else.
Champai Soren had written a long post on social site X and expressed his deep displeasure over his removal from the post of Chief Minister of Jharkhand, and had called the circumstances under which all this happened as an insult to him. He had also visited Delhi at that time, but it seems that nothing worked out.
During the Delhi visit, it was being said that Champai Soren was in touch with BJP leaders. Claims were being made as if his joining BJP was confirmed. Such reactions started coming from both JMM i.e. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and BJP. Now it seems that either it was all a rumour, or no deal could be finalised.
After Champai Soren returned empty handed from Delhi, it seems that an experiment like Punjab is going to happen in Jharkhand as well. BJP had the opportunity to include Champai Soren in the party, but it did not happen. This keeps happening before elections. Everywhere, and in every party. Leaders keep coming and going after looking at their profit and loss.
One thing that was also observed was that after Champai Soren’s displeasure, Hemant Soren did not try to pacify him. That too when Hemant Soren had earlier respected Champai Soren like a father, and he had also been treating both Hemant Soren and Kalpana Soren like children.
It is also being heard from Jharkhand that instead of persuading Champai Soren, Hemant Soren worked on keeping his supporting MLAs in his camp, and in this matter, he is being said to be successful to a large extent.
It seems that Champai Soren could not show enough number of MLAs with him so that he could get respect in BJP like Jyotiraditya Scindia, hence a situation like Sachin Pilot happened with him too.
Now, in the absence of retirement, Champai Soren had the immediate option of forming his own party, so he is moving ahead on the same line – the biggest problem is that this line is very risky, and there are at least examples in which both the leaders have failed.
One example is Babulal Marandi, who comes from Jharkhand. Babulal Marandi is currently the president of Jharkhand BJP – and the other leader is Captain Amarinder Singh, whose track record can be a lesson for Champai Soren.
Marandi is a perfect example in Champai case
Babulal Marandi was also removed from the post of Chief Minister like Champai Soren. When Jharkhand was separated from Bihar, Babulal Marandi became the first Chief Minister of the state, but before the completion of his term, he was removed and Arjun Munda was made the Chief Minister.
In 2006, when Babulal Marandi decided to leave the BJP, he was the MP from Koderma, and he had also won the 2004 elections when leaders like Yashwant Sinha could not save their seats. This was the same year when the BJP had to lose power at the Centre due to the defeat of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government.
Due to differences with some BJP leaders, Babulal Marandi left the Parliament and the party and formed his own new party. When by-elections were held due to his resignation, he contested as an independent candidate and won. He also won the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
He would have won the Lok Sabha elections, but he could not show any magic in the assembly elections. When Babulal Marandi formed his party Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, five BJP MLAs remained with him. Even after fighting the elections in alliance, Babulal Marandi could win only 11 seats in the 2009 Jharkhand Assembly. In 2014, Babulal Marandi’s party got only 8 seats, but he lost his seat too – whatever was left was completed by 6 MLAs joining BJP.
This has been a big question that why the leader who brings BJP to power in the state and even wins the election as an independent candidate is not able to ensure his party’s victory in the assembly elections?
There could be many reasons for this, but broadly only one thing is clear, that is that people were confused about Babulal Marandi. In the elections, the people of Jharkhand could not see Babulal Marandi separately from BJP – people probably never thought that apart from BJP and JMM, Babulal Marandi’s party Jharkhand Vikas Morcha could also be an option in Jharkhand. Tired of this, Babulal Marandi merged Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) with BJP in 2020 in the presence of Amit Shah – and it does not seem that Champai Soren joining BJP will please them at all.
People always saw the image of the first BJP Chief Minister in Babulal Marandi and could not form a separate opinion about him. – In the case of Champai Soren, there is another problem, his name also has ‘Soren’.
If Champai forms a separate party, he will remain a vote cutter
Time is of utmost importance. And the problem in Champai Soren’s case is that he has absolutely no time for election preparation. Almost similar circumstances were created during the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections.
Captain Amarinder Singh was also removed from the post of Chief Minister of Punjab by the Congress. Charanjit Singh Channi was made the Chief Minister in his place. Captain Amarinder Singh used to meet BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah even while being the Chief Minister of Congress, but things did not work out till the end. BJP did include Captain Amarinder Singh and his family in the party, but only after the assembly elections.
Just before the elections, Captain Amarinder Singh had formed his own party, Punjab Lok Congress. He somehow fought the elections, but to no avail. He could not help BJP either. Congress also did not benefit, because in Punjab also Aam Aadmi Party won a huge victory like Delhi and formed the government. If Champai Soren wants, he can see the reflection of Captain Amarinder Singh in Jammu and Kashmir leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, because he is standing at almost the same point in politics. He has also formed his own party. Assembly elections are also going to be held in Jammu and Kashmir.
If you look at it, the condition of JMM in Jharkhand is not at all like that of Congress in 2022. It is possible that Champai Soren may give some benefit to BJP by causing some damage to his old party, of which he is one of the founders, in his Kolhan region – but he himself will remain a vote cutter.
And it is not that Champai Soren does not have any fourth option. Like Babulal Marandi, he can also win the election by contesting as an independent candidate. His supporters can also win the election on the ticket of any of his favorite parties, and by doing so, he can certainly come into the role of kingmaker.
In Jharkhand itself, examples like Madhu Koda becoming the Chief Minister and Saryu Rai taking revenge by defeating the then Chief Minister Raghubar Das are still there – these things are the biggest lesson and advice for Champai Soren.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)