On Wednesday, more than 1,500 newly selected teachers were supposed to be handed over their appointment letters in a ceremony at Ranchi, Jharkhand, with Chief Minister Champai Soren the chief guest. At the last minute, the ceremony was cancelled. However, as per sources, the event has merely been postponed, to felicitate Hemant Soren’s return as CM, with the handing over of the appointment letters. While after Hemant’s release from bail in the Enforcement Directorate case filed against him, sources in the ruling JMM had said that Champai would continue as CM, there appears to be a rethink. Sources in the government defined it as holding up the “status quo ante”, with the purpose of Hemant’s resignation as CM, ahead of his arrest, and naming of loyalist Champai to the post having been fulfilled. A source in the government said: “Hemant Soren is likely to take over as he wants to portray a unified command, and the government wants to go with clarity before the public as to who is leading the JMM (the state elections are months away), so that there are no doubts. Champai Soren’s role was to lead the government in transit and he has successfully done it.” Hemant got bail on June 28, five months after he was arrested, with the Jharkhand High Court saying there exist “reasons to believe that he was not guilty of the offence” of money laundering brought against him over a plot of land in Ranchi. In his first address, Hemant told party workers that he had received information that the state elections may be announced early and that he was “ready”. The bail for Hemant is a second shot in the arm for the JMM after the recent Lok Sabha elections, where it won three of the five Lok Sabha seats (out of the total 14 in the state) it contested as part of the INDIA coalition – its best performance in 20 years. The coalition also managed to keep the BJP out of all the five tribal-reserved seats in Jharkhand, which was seen as a reflection of anger over Hemant’s arrest. “The jailing of Hemant gave a big impetus to party workers. We had a narrative to fight against the BJP,” a source said. Of the 81 Assembly seats in Jharkhand, 28 are Scheduled Tribe-reserved seats. The JMM will be aiming to make the most of the 28 seats. However, Hemant might run up against some resistance from the camp of Champai, a senior leader in his own right who has spent considerable time in the JMM ranks. As per a source in the camp, “Everything is going as planned as of now, and the transfer of power will only waste time ahead of the Assembly elections.” According to sources, a middle path was considered in elevating Hemant’s wife Kalpana Soren, who also emerged as a leader during the course of his imprisonment and is now an MLA, as CM. However, this got nipped in the bud. BJP leaders say the JMM is considering Champai’s removal for reasons other than political, and that the party was apprehensive about a coterie around him “trying to take advantage of government works”. The top JMM leadership is uncomfortable about letting him continue, said a BJP leader. Sources in the BJP claim that the move may irk the leaders of the Kolhan region, which comprise East and West Singhbhum and Saraikela districts, comprising 14 Assembly seats. One of them is Saraikela, from where Champai is MLA. BJP Jharkhand spokesperson Vinay Singh said: "If Hemant Soren is being made the CM again, it is clear that once a dynast, always a dynast. The momentary transition of power to Champai was nothing but a facade created to look democratic. However, they (the Shibu Soren family) will never let power go outside the family."
