Jolt to JMM as Shibu Soren's daughter-in-law joins BJP

JMM legislator Sita Soren, sister-in-law of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday, saying she is becoming a part of "Modi's Parivaar" to save the state and ensure justice for its people.

She quit the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) hours before joining the BJP, claiming that she was being neglected and isolated in the state's ruling party.

The three-term MLA's decision to join the BJP is a shot in the arm for the party's efforts to boost its connect with the Scheduled Tribes, a community which has been the main vote base of the JMM.

Soren, the wife of Durga Soren, joined the BJP in the presence of its national general secretary Vinod Tawde and Jharkhand poll in-charge Laxmikant Bajpai at its headquarters in New Delhi.

Her resignation from the JMM came following a long rancorous dispute involving her and Hemant Soren, which resurfaced after she opposed any move to make his wife Kalpana Soren replace him as chief minister after he was arrested in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.

Though Champai Soren was picked by the party to replace Hemant Soren, his wife has since appeared in political programmes in a clear indication that she will be a key campaigner for the party in the absence of its leader.

In her resignation letter addressed to JMM supremo and her father-in-law Shibu Soren, Sita Soren stated that following the demise of her husband, the party failed to provide adequate support to her and her family.

Joining the BJP, she praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his development programmes.

She spoke about the struggle of her late husband Durga Soren, who was seen as political heir to his father, for the creation of Jharkhand and said his dreams remain unfulfilled and people continue to suffer in the state.

Tawde said the impact of her joining the BJP will be felt in the polls, especially the assembly elections slated for later this year. He noted that the Narendra Modi government has done a lot of development work for tribals.

Bajpai lauded her for raising her voice against the alleged corruption and loot in the state under the JMM-led government.

She said lotus, the BJP poll symbol, will bloom in all 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

In her resignation letter, the legislator from also indicated a deviation from the party's core values by accommodating people whose principles do not align with its ethos.

"The tireless efforts of Shri Shibu Soren, who worked hard to keep us all together, unfortunately, also failed. I have become aware of a conspiracy being orchestrated against me and my family... I am left with no choice but to tender my resignation," she said in the letter.

According to the MLA's office, she also resigned from the membership of the Jharkhand assembly.

JMM Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji termed Sita Soren's resignation as shocking and urged her to reconsider the decision.

Maji also said internal disputes should be resolved within the Soren family.

A BJP spokesperson said, "Sita has been freed from Ravan's Lanka."

Her resignation comes a fortnight after the Supreme Court overturned a 1998 judgment in a case where Shibu Soren was an accused, saying that MPs and MLAs who take bribes to vote or speak in a certain manner in the house are not immune from prosecution.

She is accused of accepting bribe from an independent candidate in the 2012 Rajya Sabha elections.

The hotly debated 1998 JMM bribery case judgment, which protected former Union minister Shibu Soren from prosecution, was overturned by a seven-judge bench on March 4, ironically following a petition by his MLA daughter-in-law Sita Soren.

A seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud overruled the 1998 verdict, which held the field for 26 years, and ended the immunity enjoyed by lawmakers who vote or make speeches in the house after accepting bribe.

After the arrest of Hemant Soren, the executive president of the JMM, Sita Soren had strongly opposed any move to make his wife the CM.

Talking to PTI, Sita Soren had then said: "I would like to ask why only Kalpana Soren, who is not even an MLA and has no political experience. Under what circumstances her name is doing the rounds as the next chief minister when there are so many senior leaders in the party."

If they want to elect someone from the family, she is the seniormost and has been an MLA for around 14 years, she had said.