Ranchi: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Champai Soren's entry to the limelight in February to replace Hemant Soren as the state chief minister was as dramatic as his exit from the post five months later.
Soren, who once tilled fields with his father in a remote village in Jharkhand's Saraikela-Kharsawan district, rose to the post of chief minister on February 2, days after his predecessor Hemant Soren resigned shortly before he was arrested by the ED in a money laundering case. Hemant was released from jail on June 28 after the high court granted him bail, and on Wednesday, he was elected the party's legislature party leader.
Champai submitted his resignation letter to the governor as CM to pave the way for Hemant who was sworn in as the chief minister for the third time. Financial assistance schemes for women in the age group of 21 and 50 years, 200 units of free electricity to domestic consumers and increasing healthcare cover to Rs 15 lakh for 33 lakh people were given shape during Champai Soren's five-month short stint as CM.
Champai, a 67-year-old tribal leader, has earned the sobriquet "Jharkhand's Tiger" for his contribution to the long fight for the creation of a separate state in the 1990s. Jharkhand was created from the southern part of Bihar in 2000. A matriculate from a government school, he started his political career by getting elected as an independent MLA through a by-election from the Saraikela seat in undivided Bihar in 1991.
