As challenges arise from within Hemant Soren’s family, year ahead to test his political skills

By Shambhu Nath Choudhary

Ranchi, Dec 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) The coalition government of JMM, Congress and RJD led by Hemant Soren in Jharkhand will complete its two years on December 29 and it can be certainly said that in these two years Soren has established himself as a strong leader -- not just within the party, but also within the coalition.

Despite several controversies and constant attacks from the opposition, Hemant Soren never let the troubles overtake his government.

He is the son of Shibu Soren, popularly known as Guruji in the Jharkhand politics. Today, the Soren family is the most powerful political house in the state and Hemant is the flag-bearer of this family.

However, with in view of some recent developments, it seems like he has started getting challenges from within his own family.

It is believed that the conflict within the Soren family could deepen further in the coming year and Hemant Soren may have to face a tough test on all fronts -- family as well as politics.

The kind of challenge Hemant Soren is facing from within his family can be understood from a recent incident. Hemant Soren's elder sister-in-law, Sita Soren, who is an MLA from Dumka's Jama constituency, sat on a dharna at the main gate of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly, questioning her own party's government.

Later on after the intervention of Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato, she was called to the House, but here too she accused the government of giving wrong answers to the questions raised by her.

Sita Soren is very vocal on Twitter and has made about 50 tweets in the last two years, putting the party and the government in the dock.

On several instances, she raised strongly worded questions by tweeting directly to the party president and head of the family, Shibu Soren and Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

On October 28, she attacked the party leadership through her four tweets one after the other.

She said in a tweet, "Shibu Soren ji, the party raised by your's and late Durga Soren ji's blood and sweat has gone into the hands of present-day touts and dishonest, it seems. If the situation continues like this, then the party will split into many factions. It is now only in your hands to save the party from the touts and the dishonest. The responsibility of safeguarding the hope with which the foundation of the party was laid rests only in your hands."

Similarly, on December 2, in a tweet addressing Hemant Soren, she said: "..this is a government of the common people and their aspirations, as well as a government that protects water, forest and land. But the public is not getting better facilities due to corrupt officials. Please save Jharkhand by taking strict action against such corrupt officials."

Surprisingly, there is no response from the party leadership to these tweets by Sita Soren. Neither Shibu Soren nor Hemant Soren take any notice of it. It is clear that Shibu Soren, the head of the Soren family and now Hemant Soren, the flag-bearer of the family and the party, are in no mood to give her any attention.

Sita Soren has been elected MLA for three consecutive terms from the Jama area of the Dumka district, however her entry in politics did not come naturally. Her husband Durga Soren was once a strong leader of the JMM. He was the elder son of JMM President Shibu Soren. Shibu Soren also wanted him to be his successor, but on May 21, 2009, Durga Soren died under 'unusual' circumstances. After this, Shibu Soren gradually handed over his political succession to his second son Hemant Soren.

Political experts believe that if Durga Soren had been alive, the command of the party and the government would have been in his hands. After the death of Durga Soren, Sita Soren reached the Assembly riding on the waves of sympathy. However, even after this, she retained the political hold in her Assembly constituency by winning twice in a row.

Under the new head of the party, Hemant Soren, Sita Soren, however, could not increase much influence outside her Assembly constituency. When the JMM-Congress-RJD coalition government was formed in 2019, Sita Soren was hopeful that she would get a place in the cabinet, but Hemant Soren kept her away from the government. This was considered as the biggest reason for Sita Soren's annoyance.

Experts say that if Hemant Soren had made her a minister, it would have increased her political weight and in such a situation she could have become a big trouble for him. Even today, Hemant Soren does not pay much attention to the criticism of his government by Sita Soren, so the 'strategy' behind this is to keep her political status within the purview of a 'Lakshman Rekha'.

Meanwhile, on the day of Vijayadashami this year, on October 15, Sita Soren's two daughters, Jayshree Soren and Rajshree Soren, announced an organisation called 'Durga Soren Sena' in Ranchi.

Vijayashree has studied Law and Rajshree has studied Business Management. Both the sisters and their mother Sita Soren are trying to expand this organisation in different districts. Although they call it a non-political organisation.

However, it is believed that this is an exercise to create an organisation parallel to JMM and put pressure on Hemant Soren.

Corruption in Jharkhand and issues related to water, forest, land have been discussed in a dozen programmes organised by this organisation so far. Sita Soren's two daughters have also tweeted several times to uncle Hemant Soren regarding the government's attitude on issues related to Jharkhand.

It is also believed that the third generation of the Soren family is ready to enter in the politics.

Senior journalist Sudhir Pal says that since JMM supremo Shibu Soren has made Hemant Soren his successor, declared or undeclared, he will remain the biggest leader of the party, family and government under him.

The second important political figure in the Soren family after Hemant Soren is his younger brother Basant Soren. He is MLA from Dumka. He has never directly challenged Hemant Soren, but he is often in the news for his stance and has a large group of supporters within the party.

In the presence of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, his brother Basant Soren lost his cool in the divisional meeting of JMM in Dumka in January last. He had told the workers, "today you have your own government in the state, even after this, if you are not able to beat the officers, who do not listen, with the slippers and shoes then it is a matter of regret". Hemant Soren was 'definitely' uncomfortable about this, but he could not dare to interrupt his younger brother.

BJP, the main opposition party in the state, is trying to use the conflict within the Soren family as a political opportunity. Recently BJP leader and former Chief Minister Raghubar Das said that the JMM should make a change of leadership and replace Hemant Soren with his brother Basant Soren as the Chief Minister.

Obviously, Raghuvar Das made such a statement very carefully, but Hemant Soren or Basant Soren did not react.

Overall, Hemant Soren has his own style of handling tough situations and challenges. Whether the voices of protest should arise from within the family or there is a political attempt to vent it from outside, he has so far proved himself to be a skilled political player. It will surely be interesting to see how efficiently he manages to deal with the challenges he will be facing on the family and political fronts in the coming days.

Source: IANS