Why Hemant Soren’s choice of Champai Soren as Chief Minister is a masterstroke

Champai Soren has emerged as the new Chief Minister’s face in Jharkhand after Hemant Soren named the former his successor, hours after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday (January 31) in a land fraud case.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) party leader is a loyalist of Hemant Soren and the state Transport Minister. In a letter addressed to the MLAs of the ruling Mahagathbandhan in Jharkhand, Hemant Soren declared Champai Soren as the supremo of the JMM legislative party.

Champai Soren, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader, is a loyalist of Hemant Soren and is considered close to the former Jharkhand Chief Minister’s father, Shibu Soren. Also, the new Jharkhand Chief Minister belongs to the Kolhan region, which is considered to be a BJP stronghold.

Furthermore, Jharkhand has so far got three Chief Ministers from Kolhan – two were from the BJP, including Arjun Munda (from 2010 to 2013) and Raghuvar Das (from 2014 to 2019). Madhu Koda, the second Chief Minister of Jharkhand, was from Congress and served in the position from 2006 to 2008.

Madhu Koda along with Hemant Soren is among three Chief Ministers of Jharkhand who were arrested in scams. Koda was allegedly involved in a mining scandal and was accused by the CBI and ED of taking bribes for allocating coal and mining blocks during his tenure as the Chief Minister.

In the 2019 Jharkhand Assembly elections, the BJP did not perform as per their expectations in Kolhan. The safron party’s performance, in fact, was poor in 13 assembly constituencies. The biggest blow came in the Jamshedpur (East) seat wherein “giant killer” Saryu Roy sent BJP’s Raghuvar Das packing by defeating him with a massive margin.

Saryu Roy contested the last assembly polls as an independent after he was denied a ticket. At the time, he claimed it was Raghuvar Das who did not want Roy to contest elections.

Saryu Roy is credited with sending both Arjun Munda and Raghuvar Das to jail. At the time, Hemant Soren supported his independent candidature, saying the expelled BJP leader had spoken against corruption and made his own identity.

Hemant Soren has not enjoyed much popularity during his tenure as the Chief Minister. Picking Champai Soren as his successor is seen as a masterstroke to spoil the party for the BJP. Called the ‘Tiger of Kolhan’, Champai Soren as the new Jharkhand Chief Minister may once again cause the BJP to suffer loss in this year’s Assembly polls.

Hemant Soren approached the Supreme Court on Thursday challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the land scam. His plea will be heard before the top court on Friday by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.

The Enforcement Directorate, meanwhile, will produce Hemant Soren before PMLA court in Ranchi today. The probe agency will seek 7 to 8 days of custody for the former Jharkhand Chief Minister on grounds of him not cooperating during the questioning and giving evasive answers.

Sources said the probe agency will also seek Hemant Soren’s remand based on documents and other material evidence they have accessed that allegedly implicate him in the land scam.

Meanwhile, as many as 43 MLAs are with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in support of Champai Soren.