Who is Champai Soren: The journey of 67-year-old Champai Soren, from working in the fields with his father in Jillinggora village of Seraikela-Kharsawan district in Jharkhand to becoming the new Chief Minister of the state, has been quite a struggle. Champai Soren, a former transport minister of the state and considered a loyalist of JMM chief Shibu Soren, is also known as ‘Jharkhand Tiger’ for his contribution in the long fight for a separate (Jharkhand) state in the 1990s.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislature party leader Champai Soren took oath as the new Chief Minister of Jharkhand on Friday. Governor CP Radhakrishnan administered him the oath of office at the Raj Bhavan here. Apart from Champai Soren, senior Congress leader Alamgir Alam and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Satyanand Bhokta took oath as ministers of the state. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Durbar Hall of Raj Bhavan and senior leaders of the JMM-led alliance were present on the occasion.
67-year-old tribal leader Champai Soren is the 12th Chief Minister of the state. He is the sixth Chief Minister from Kolhan region of Jharkhand. The Kolhan region includes the districts of East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan. Champai Soren was appointed Chief Minister by the Governor on Thursday.
Earlier, Champai Soren had urged the Governor to accept his claim to form the government as soon as possible, as there was confusion in the state. There was no Chief Minister in the state for 24 hours. This situation was due to the absence of a Chief Minister in the state after the resignation of Hemant Soren on January 31 and due to this the political crisis had deepened.
Who is Champai Soren? (Who is Jharkhand’s new CM Champai Soren?)
The journey of 67-year-old Champai Soren, from working in the fields with his father in Jillinggora village of Seraikela-Kharsawan district in Jharkhand to becoming the new Chief Minister of the state, has been quite a struggle. Champai Soren, a former transport minister of the state and considered a loyalist of JMM chief Shibu Soren, is also known as ‘Jharkhand Tiger’ for his contribution in the long fight for a separate (Jharkhand) state in the 1990s.
Champai, who studied from a government school till matriculation, got married at a very young age. He has four sons and three daughters. He started his political career by being elected as an independent MLA in the by-election from Seraikela seat in 1991. Four years later, he contested the assembly elections on JMM ticket and defeated BJP candidate Panchu Tudu.
At the same time, in the 2000 assembly elections , he lost to BJP’s Anant Ram Tudu on the same seat. In 2005, he again captured this seat by defeating the BJP candidate by a margin of 880 votes. Champhai also won the 2009, 2014 and 2019 elections. He was a cabinet minister in the Arjun Munda-led BJP-JMM coalition government between September 2010 and January 2013. Then when Hemant Soren formed the government in the state in 2019, Champai was made the Food and Civil Supplies and Transport Minister.
