OVER FIVE months after he resigned as Chief Minister, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) executive president Hemant Soren returned to the post on Thursday evening, after Governor C P Radhakrishnan administered the oath of office. About half-an-hour before being sworn in, Soren released a five-minute video clip on social media platforms addressing the people of Jharkhand. “.I have tried to be the voice of the voiceless — the poor, Adivasis, moolvasis, backwards, labourers, farmers — who have always struggled. When you gave me a chance to serve you, I tried to reach your doorstep. However, they (BJP) stopped me for some time. I am coming to you now, and will do everything to give you your rights and entitlements,” he said. “They kept me in jail for a long time, but the people gave me full support, and I got justice,” he said. While he claimed that the court had released him after giving him a “clean chit”, the trial in the case is still ongoing. Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 31 in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. He was released on bail on June 28, with the Jharkhand High Court saying there “exists reasonable grounds to believe he was not guilty”. Soren said the people of the state had given him the mandate. “However, the conspirators could not digest the fact that an Adivasi leader got the top post, and so they forced me to quit as Chief Minister by indicting me in a false case,” he said. He added that he would remain indebted to the people of the state, who put up a “united Jharkhandi” front in the Lok Sabha elections. The INDIA bloc won five Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand. Promising to speed up development work, he said: “Jharkhand rukega nahin, aur Jharkhand jhukega nahin (Jharkhand will not stop, Jharkhand will not bow down).” On Wednesday, Champai Soren, who was made the Chief Minister after Hemant Soren resigned, stepped down from the post, paving the way for his predecessor's return. Earlier in the day, the INDIA bloc's 45 MLAs elected Hemant as their leader and, according to insiders, convinced Champai to step down to ensure smooth transfer of power. According to sources, Champai was initially reluctant, and only agreed to step down after a 45-minute meeting with a senior Congress leader. While there is no decision yet on Hemant Soren's new Cabinet, sources said the names would be announced in a few days.
