‘All options are open,' says Champai Soren amid buzz of joining BJP

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Champai Soren said he had experienced “bitter humiliation” during his tenure as the chief minister of the state. Soren’s remarks came soon after he landed in Delhi amid speculations of him joining the Bharatiya Janata Party.

In a detailed statement which he shared on X, Soren said “all options are open” for him till the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections.

“On January 31, after an unprecedented turn of events, the India Alliance chose me to serve the state as the 12th Chief Minister of Jharkhand. From the first day of my tenure to the last day (July 3), I discharged my duties towards the state with full devotion and dedication,” he said, adding that during his tenure he had never done anything wrong to anyone.

However, Soren said, all his government programmes in the first week of July were abruptly cancelled by the party leadership without his knowledge. The JMM leader said when he enquired about the reason for the cancellation, he was told that a meeting of the legislative party has been called by the coalition on July 3 and till then he cannot attend any programme as the chief minister.

"Can there be anything more humiliating in a democracy than a Chief Minister's programmes being cancelled by another person?,” he asked.

Soren further claimed that although the CM had the authority to call a meeting of the legislative party, he was not even informed of the meeting's agenda. "During the meeting, I was asked to resign. I was taken aback. Since I had no desire for power, I resigned immediately. However, my self-respect was deeply hurt," he said, adding that he was struggling to control his tears.

"I could not understand what to do. For two days, I sat quietly and introspected, kept searching for my mistake in the whole incident. I did not have the greed for power even a bit, but to whom could I show this blow to my self-respect? Where could I express the pain inflicted by my own people?" he said. 

Soren said he had three options after the legislative party meeting, first to retire from politics, second, to form his own separate organization and third, if he finds a companion on this path, then to travel further with him.