Who is ‘Jharkhand Tiger’ Champai Soren, set to replace Hemant Soren as CM?

-

There was action and drama in Jharkhand on Wednesday night. Hemant Soren, the state’s chief minister, resigned from his post, and was subsequently arrested by the Enforcement Directorate. And amid this drama, Hemant Soren’s party, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), appointed Cabinet minister and veteran leader Champai Soren as the new state head.

Champai Soren met Governor CP Radhakrishnan and staked claim to form the new Jharkhand government, claiming support of 47 MLAs. To form the government, the ruling alliance needs 41 MLAs and presently it has numbers above the magic figure.

The ascension of Champai Soren comes at a time when there was heavy speculation that Hemant Soren would install his wife, Kalpana Soren, at the seat of power.

As we wait for the swearing-in of Champai Soren, we take a closer look at who he is and how we got here.

Champai Soren — the Jharkhand Tiger

Champai Soren, the transport minister in the Hemant Soren government, has been a long time member of the JMM. The 68-year-old is a loyalist of JMM supremo Shibu Soren and fought along with him for the Jharkhand movement, earning him the nickname of ‘Jharkhand tiger’.

He was born in November 1956 at Jilinggora village in Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharsawan district to a farmer — Simal Soren. Champai Soren is not related to the Hemant Soren family.

It is reported that Champai Soren worked on his farms alongside his father. He received education up to Class X from a government school. He reportedly also got married at a very young age and has four sons and three daughters.

Champai Soren, who shares no relation with Hemant Soren’s family, has been a longtime member of the JMM. He is, in fact, known to be a loyalist to Hemant’s father — Shibu Soren. Image Courtesy: Champai Soren/Facebook

Before Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000, he represented Saraikela constituency in the Bihar Assembly after winning the 1995 state elections. And since then, he has been serving the constituency, winning the polls five times.

A Times of India report states that he has also been a trade union leader. He has carried out several successful trade movements in the towns of Jamshedpur and Adityapur.

Before transport minister, Champai Soren has also served as the minister for science and technology, labour and housing between September 2010 to January 2013. And from July 2013 to December 2014, he has served as a minister of food and civil supplies as well as transport.

In the political sphere, he’s known and revered and shares a good rapport with leaders from other parties as well.

Champai Soren’s rise to the top

The rise of Champai Soren to the chief minister’s post comes amid high drama in the state. Earlier, on Wednesday (31 January), Hemant Soren appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in an alleged land scam case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. This came about after he had gone ‘missing’ on Monday and evaded questioning.

Following a seven-hour grilling, Soren realised his arrest was imminent and he — accompanied by the ED officials — went to Raj Bhavan where he tendered his resignation as chief minister.

Congress president Rajesh Thakur, who is in the alliance with the JMM said, “Hemant Soren has resigned as the chief minister of Jharkhand. The ruling JMM-Congress-RJD alliance has proposed the name of senior JMM leader Champai Soren as the new CM.”

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren submits his resignation to the Governor CP Radhakrishnan, in Ranchi on Wednesday. PTI

Hemant Soren had earlier in the day lodged an FIR against ED personnel over searches conducted by the agency at his Delhi residence on Monday. And in the night, moved the Jharkhand High Court. However, it is still unknown as to why he moved the court. His petition will be heard by the bench of Acting Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Anubha Rawat Choudhary at 10.30 am today. The outgoing chief minister has alleged that the actions of the ED officials have been to “harass and malign him and his entire community”.

Following Hemant Soren’s arrest, several tribal outfits have called for a bandh in the state. Kendriya Sarna Samiti president Ajay Tirkey was quoted as telling news agency PTI that 15-20 tribal organisations from across the state will join the shutdown. “Despite cooperating with the ED in the investigation, Hemant Soren was arrested. We protest this,” he said.

Soren’s arrest also prompted strong reactions from leaders of the Opposition grouping — INDIA bloc. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on X wrote, “The one who did not go with (Narendra) Modi ji will go to jail. Putting ED against Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and forcing him to resign is a blow to federalism.”

With inputs from agencies



from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/ijTbhXa
Roshneesh Kmaneck

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Both COVID-19 vaccine doses needed for good protection against B16172 variant

-
It’s been a concerning few weeks in the UK, with the B16172 variant first taking hold and then spreading to become dominant. This more infectious form of the virus, initially identified in India, is what we’re now going to have to live with – unless it is out-competed by another variant in the future. Worryingly, experts had predicted that B16172 might be able to escape some of the effects of vaccines, which if true would threaten to derail the UK’s plans to finish lifting restrictions from the end of June. However, Public Health England (PHE) has looked at the ability of various variants to evade immunity and says that the UK’s vaccines remain effective against the variants circulating, including B16172. On the surface, this looks like good news. But delve a bit deeper, and things get more complicated, says Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia. PHE’s research found a little drop-off in protection against B16172 among people who were fully vaccinated.
Read more

New coronavirus variant emerge in India: How should our COVID response change?

-
Image
After genome sequencing of over 10,000 COVID-19 cases in India, researchers have discovered a new variant with two new mutations which may be better at evading the immune system. In 15-20 percent of samples from the Indian state of Maharashtra (the state accounting for 62 percent of cases in the country) a new, double mutation in key areas of the virus has been detected. These are now known as the E484Q and L452R mutations. What makes the variant different? Both these mutations are concerning because they are located in a key portion of the virus – the spike protein – that it uses to penetrate human cells. Spike proteins attach via a “receptor binding domain”, meaning the virus can attach to receptors in our cells. These new mutations include changes to the spike protein that make it a “better fit” for human cells. This means the virus can gain entry more easily and multiply faster. Given what we have seen with other similar mutations , it might also make it harder for our immu
Read more

120 flights delayed, 30 trains running late; Delhi fog & cold wave continue to give shiver to travellers

-
Arrival and departure of 120 flights, both domestic and international, to Delhi airport were affected due to dense fog and cold wave conditions on Wednesday, according to Delhi Airport FIDS (Flight Information Display System). As per the Delhi Airport FIDS, a total of 53 flights, including 21 domestic arrivals, 16 domestic departures, 13 international departures and three international arrivals scheduled are cancelled and not operating due to fog and other operational reasons from and to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in the national capital on 17 January. #WATCH | Delhi: Several flight operations delayed at IGI airport due to low visibility amid fog. pic.twitter.com/hG1DUKllEt — ANI (@ANI) January 17, 2024 Visuals from the Delhi airport showed passengers waiting outside, checking update of their scheduled flights. There were also some people waiting for flight of their families, friends and loved ones to arrive, which got delayed due to fog. #WATCH | Delhi | Pas
Read more