Soren’s daughter-in-law joins BJP: ‘Isolated by JMM, family members’

“Since the demise of my late husband, Durga Soren, who was a leading warrior of the Jharkhand movement and a great revolutionary, I and my family have been victims of continuous neglect. We have been isolated by the party and family members, which has been extremely painful for me. I had hoped that the situation would improve with time, but unfortunately it didn’t happen,” she wrote.

Later on Tuesday, she joined the BJP in New Delhi in the presence of BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde and Jharkhand election in-charge Laxmikant Bajpai.

Sita Soren, who held the post of general secretary of JMM, also said in her resignation letter that the JMM was no longer the “great party” that it was under her late husband’s leadership. “I feel deeply saddened to see this. The party has now fallen into the hands of those whose vision and objectives do not match our values and ideals. Despite the tireless efforts of Shri Shibu Soren (Guruji Baba), who worked hard to keep us all together, unfortunately, his efforts also failed. I have recently come to know that there is a deep-rooted conspiracy against me and my family also. A conspiracy is being hatched. I am very sad. I have firmly decided that I will have to leave Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and this family.”

Welcoming Sita Soren to the party, BJP state president and former chief minister Babulal Marandi said a decision on whether she will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections will be taken by the party’s central election committee.

“The Congress and JMM legislators feel threatened by their own government,” Marandi said, adding that Sita Soren’s letter reflected “the pain and injustice she faced”.

“She suffered jolts… Sita has come to Ram… She is welcome,” he added.

However, JMM central committee spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said the party gave her due recognition and made her its general secretary, besides being elected thrice as MLA.

Alleging that the BJP uses institutions like the CBI and ED to intimidate Opposition leaders, he said, “Not everyone is Hemant Soren, who can fearlessly face such forces.”

Sita Soren’s resignation comes two weeks after the Supreme Court on March 4 ruled that MPs and MLAs who take bribes to vote or speak in a certain manner in the House are not immune from prosecution, overturning its order in a 1998 case in which Shibu Soren was an accused. Sita Soren is facing trial in another similar case in which she is accused of accepting a bribe from an Independent candidate in the 2012 Rajya Sabha elections. A judgment in that case is expected soon.

Sita’s brother-in-law Hemant Soren was arrested in an alleged money laundering case on January 31, hours after he resigned as Jharkhand chief minister. While party loyalist Champai Soren (not related to Hemant) was elevated as the new chief minister, sources said Sita was unhappy that one of the probable candidates for the CM’s post was Hemant’s wife Kalpana Soren. – With PTI inputs