In the run-up to the Assembly election in Jharkhand, Chief Minister Hemant Soren along with his MLA wife Kalpana Murmu Soren on Tuesday met Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi.
Mr. Gandhi termed it a courtesy meeting, however, sources in Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) said that discussions on the Assembly polls also took place, which is due later this year in November-December.
The meeting comes days after former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after resigning from the JMM alleging that he was humiliated and insulted by JMM. He had also cited dissatisfaction with the party’s current style of functioning.
Mr. Soren met Mr. Kharge and Mr. Gandhi at the Congress president’s residence where Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal was also present during the meeting.
“Courtesy meeting with Jharkhand Chief Minister Shri Hemant Soren and Mrs. Kalpana Soren in the presence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. INDIA is united for the upliftment and rights of the people of Jharkhand, the poor and the tribals. We will win this election with a massive majority,” Mr. Gandhi said in a Facebook post.
After the meeting, Mr. Kharge also asserted that the INDIA bloc will win in Jharkhand. “INDIA will win in Jharkhand, today, along with Mr. Rahul Gandhi had a courtesy meeting with the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Mr. Hemant Soren. We are fully committed to social justice and economic upliftment of all sections of the society in Jharkhand,” Mr. Kharge said in the message posted on social media platform X.
Mr. Soren later inaugurated the newly-constructed Jharkhand Bhawan located in central Delhi.
Asked about his meeting on the election with Mr. Kharge and Mr. Gandhi on the sidelines of the event, Mr. Soren said it was just a courtesy call. “On this, we will sit together and discuss,” he told reporters in New Delhi.
Asked if Champai Soren switching sides to the BJP would have any impact on Jharkhand’s politics, Mr. Soren said: “I think questions related to this issue should be asked to those in the BJP.”
Following the arrest of Hemant Soren by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 31 January, 2024 in an alleged money laundering case, Mr. Champai was made the Chief Minister. He served in the post from February 2, to July 3, 2024. However, after coming out of jail, Hemant Soren removed him and became the Chief Minister.
Requesting anonymity, a JMM leader accompanying Mr. Hemant Soren in New Delhi told The Hindu, “Assembly election strategy was also discussed during the meeting which lasted for 45 minutes. Jharkhand Congress in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir has already met Hemant Soren ji several times in Ranchi to discuss the issue. Even the seat-sharing talk is going on and by September last week or October first week, seat sharing would be formally announced.”
The then Chief Minister Raghubar Das had laid the foundation stone of Jharkhand Bhawan in 2016.
