Ranchi/Kolkata: Former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Champai Soren, refused to resign from his post during the Gathbandhan legislature meeting on July 3, according to a source present at the meeting who spoke to eNewsroom. The source claimed that Champai Soren wanted to continue as the Chief Minister.
‘I am an eyewitness. When Champai Soren was informed during the legislature party meeting that Hemant Soren would now become the Chief Minister and that he should resign, he refused. However, he did not receive the support of any MLA on this matter and ultimately resigned,’ the source revealed.
On February 2, the Seraikela MLA was appointed as the Chief Minister of the Gathbandhan, now known as the INDIA bloc, after Hemant Soren was jailed in a land scam case. When Hemant Soren was acquitted by the Jharkhand High Court, Champai Soren was asked to resign during the INDIA bloc legislature party meeting.
After arriving in Delhi on Sunday, Champai Soren shared a letter on his social media, describing the process of his removal from the Chief Minister’s post as humiliating. Champai, who is currently a minister, also questioned the decision to call the legislature party meeting on July 3 without the Chief Minister’s permission.
However, the letter is written in very formal Hindi, and as a tribal leader who has only studied up to the matriculation level, there has been speculation on social media about who might have helped him write it. The way the events of the resignation day are depicted in the letter supports the source’s claim that the JMM leader did not want to leave the post of Chief Minister.
The source further said, ‘Today he is talking about being humiliated. If that was the case, he should not have become a minister again and should have demanded something else from the party. This is only the third time in the country (after Babulal Gaur and Panneerselvam) that someone has become a minister after serving as Chief Minister.’
‘In the 2019 assembly elections, Hemant Soren received the mandate to run the state’s affairs. What should have happened is that when Hemant Soren was acquitted by the court, Champai Soren should have publicly announced that now, since his leader has been proven innocent by the court, he is handing back the responsibility that was given to him to run the state. But Champai Soren did not do this.’
If the former CM provides any statement on this matter, it will be added to this report.
There has been no response from the JMM to the former Chief Minister’s letter. However, in a speech on Sunday, Hemant Soren again accused the BJP of poaching.”
