Jharkhand minister Hemant Soren’s sister-in-law quits JMM, joins BJP

Sita Soren claimed that JMM did not give her due treatment.

Ranchi:

Jharkhand Jama MLA Sita Soren, sister-in-law of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday.

After resigning from the JMM membership, Sita Soren also resigned from the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly. She is the Secretary General of JMM.

In her letter to the Jharkhand Assembly Speaker, Sita Soren said: “Many situations have arisen within the party; ultimately, it is a moral issue for me. So I am resigning as MP.”

Sita Soren claimed that JMM did not give her due treatment.

“I have served the party for 14 years but so far I have not been given the respect I deserve for these 14 years, so I have to take this very important decision to respect the hard work of my late husband Durgash Waji… so far we have not had any repercussions, we have not received any respect from any party,” Sita Soren said.

“I have to take this decision today, the way we are seeing from Prime Minister Narendra Modi is that he is visiting the whole of India and the name of India is getting more and more popular abroad as well, so with that in mind, I am very impressed with JP Nadda ji, Amit Shah with full trust and confidence ji, Devendra Fernand ji, I will have their support and we have to save Jharkhand,” she added.

Meanwhile, JMM leader Manoj Pandey wants Sita Soren to withdraw her decision.

“It’s very unfortunate. We think she’s a valued member of the party… and we want her to quit. The kind of respect she gets from this party, I don’t think she’ll get anywhere else…. ..If she comes under the influence of those who are against us, she is sabotaging herself,” JMM leader Manoj Pandey said.

Talking about Sita Soren joining the BJP, JMM MP Mahua Majhi said: “We are all shocked. We don’t know about it or why she did this, but the party is going through a crisis now. So, I think everyone should have some patience. It is unfortunate for our party…the elections are coming. Our party is strong. People like this alliance, Hemant Soren is working under Shibu Soren and Champai Soren is completing the unfinished work. One hopes that JMM will continue with the alliance government again.”

While the BJP has nominated candidates for 11 of the 14 seats in Jharkhand, the Bloc India is yet to announce its candidates. The voting process in Jharkhand will be held in four phases, from May 13 to June 1.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 11 seats with a vote share of 51.9%, while the Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and ASJU won one seat each.

Elections for the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha will be held from April 19 to June 1, with the counting date scheduled for June 4.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)