Champai Soren meets Amit Shah, will join BJP on Aug 30: Assam CM Sarma

New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that JMM leader and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren will join the BJP on August 30.

Champai Soren had publicly shared his anguish at his treatment by the party and his unceremonious removal from the top post.

"Former Chief Minister of Jharkhand and a distinguished Adivasi leader of our country, @ChampaiSoren Ji met Hon’ble Union Home Minister @AmitShah Ji a short while ago. He will officially join the @BJP4India on 30th August in Ranchi," he said in a post on X late on Monday, sharing a photo of the veteran Jharkhand leader meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah, along with him.

Sarma had earlier on Monday said that Champai Soren's joining the BJP would further strengthen the party.

His remarks came amid growing speculation that Champai Soren, who was in the national capital for the past few days, might switch sides.

"I want Champai Soren to join the BJP and strengthen us. However, since he is a very prominent leader, it is not appropriate for me to comment on him. If he is in Delhi, we will try to communicate with him," Sarma told media persons.

Responding to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's allegations that the BJP is attempting to divide his party, Sarma, who is BJP's election in-charge for Jharkhand that will go to the polls later this year, said: "Look, I even want Hemant Soren to join the BJP. BJP means devotion towards the nation. There should be no question of dividing the country. We all work together for the country."

Champai Soren, who held the Chief Minister's post for just five months (February 2-July 4) taking over ahead of Hemant Soren's arrest and stepping down soon after his release, had on August 18 broken his silence on the "affront and insult" he was subjected to within the JMM, and narrated a few incidents which forced him to rethink his association with the party he served whole of his life.

He said he was left devastated when his decisions were overturned by some party workers and his programmes as CM were cancelled at the behest of some "overpowering" figure in the JMM.

In a post on X, he made some shocking revelations on how he was slighted and subjected to ridicule in the party, and what made him ‘dissociate’ from party affairs to chart his own course.

"The Chief Minister has the mandate to call a legislative party meeting but the irony is that I wasn’t even aware of the agenda of the meet despite being at the helm. I was directed to submit my resignation (after Hemant Soren’s release from jail). I was aghast and shocked at such a directive coming from people with no authority. As I didn’t have any attachment to the Chair, I quickly tendered my resignation."

"However, the incident deeply hurt me and my self-respect," Champai Soren said.

He also noted that he had been slighted and snubbed by the JMM leadership despite dedicating his entire life to the party.

The senior leader also said that he was heartbroken over the episode but couldn’t turn to anyone as the party supremo (Shibu Soren, Hemant Soren's father) is no longer active in politics, and this made him "look for places where I can find my self-respect".

Champai Soren also wrote that it was after the legislative party meeting that he decided his future course of action, mulling over three options - "retiring from politics, floating a new outfit, or uniting with an ally with similar interests" and that all three options would remain open till the day when Jharkhand goes to the polls.

Rumours of the former Jharkhand CM joining the BJP gained further momentum after he, along with four other JMM leaders, landed in Delhi earlier this month. However, he told media persons that he had come for "some personal work".

Tellingly, he had also dropped JMM from his X bio.

IANS