Hemant Soren wants to remove the "Ex-CM" tag from his bio and has hinted at his intention to drop the suffix "ex" and retain the latter he enjoyed until his arrest in a money laundering case.
Less than a week after being granted bail in a land scam case, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has expressed his keenness to reclaim the Chief Minister's office.
He convened a legislative party meeting of the ruling alliance today.
Highly placed sources in the government have indicated that current CM Champai Soren will be replaced.
"Maybe within a week or fortnight, there are hints of a change of guard in Jharkhand. The return of Hemant Raj is just awaiting official announcement," sources confided.
During the legislative party meeting, the agenda for appointing Hemant Soren was discussed, and alliance partners agreed to the proposal, sources said.
Soren, the working president of the JMM, was compelled to step down from the CM post after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him on January 31st this year in the infamous Ranchi land scam case.
However, his plan to install his wife, Kalpana Soren, as CM temporarily was thwarted by protests within the family and the party.
He was left with no option but to appoint a senior party leader from the Kolhan division, Minister Champai Soren, as Chief Minister.
It is widely believed that Hemant Soren indirectly controlled and managed government affairs from inside the jail, nursing the wounds of losing the CM post and aspiring to regain it.
Despite Champai Soren being his pick, the incumbent CM gradually asserted his authority and made independent decisions.
The JMM is part of the INDI alliance, and during the Lok Sabha elections, Kalpana Soren led the party.
However, Hemant Soren grew wary of Champai Soren's increasing influence within the government and the party.
In a family-dominated party like the JMM, power rarely shifts outside familial control, and Hemant Soren is reluctant to see anyone outside the family gain political stature.
Speculation about a change in leadership gained momentum when Champai Soren postponed all official engagements on Tuesday and canceled appointments, including the distribution of job appointment letters.
He even stopped answering phone calls. Hemant Soren visited his residence in the afternoon.
Insiders revealed that Hemant Soren cited reasons for replacing Champai Soren.
"He believes that Champai Soren is unable to handle bureaucracy and manage administration as a Chief Minister should," sources said.
With Jharkhand's assembly elections scheduled for the end of this year, Hemant Soren contends that the ruling alliance needs a strong CM to challenge the BJP, asserting that Champai Soren does not inspire confidence among party workers.
Hemant Soren was in jail during the Lok Sabha elections, yet the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance won five out of 14 seats, with the BJP losing all tribal seats it had won in 2019.
The BJP lost tribal votes to the opposition alliance. Hemant Soren reportedly stated that there is overwhelming public support for him and a desire to see him return as CM.
However, many believe that this decision may provoke discontent within the party, suggesting that Hemant Soren should have resolved leadership issues earlier rather than waiting for the outcome of the assembly elections.
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