Former chief minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Champai Soren joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Ranchi on Friday.
He joined the party in the presence of Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Jharkhand BJP president Babulal Marandi.
Champai Soren, who had taken oath as a minister in the Hemant Soren cabinet last month, had quit the JMM on August 28, claiming that the state government’s “present style of functioning and policies” forced him to leave the party which he served for many years. He also resigned as an MLA and a minister in the Jharkhand Cabinet.
“Today I resigned from the primary membership and all posts of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. I will continue to fight on the issues of tribals, Dalits, backward and common people of Jharkhand. I have never ever imagined in my dreams that I would quit JMM, a party which is like a family to me… The turn of events of the past forced me to take this decision with much pain… I am pained to say that the party has deviated from its principle,” he said in his resignation letter.
He became the chief minister of Jharkhand on February 2, shortly after Hemant Soren resigned as the CM before being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.
Champai quit the post on July 3 and Hemant took oath as the CM again on July 4, after he was released on bail.
