In his remarks in Jharkhand Assembly ahead of the trust vote, Chief Minister Champai Soren referred to his predecessor as “Hemant Babu” and added that he will run the government as “Hemant Soren Part 2”. The jailed former Chief Minister, who was forced to resign amid allegations of money laundering, also addressed the House for a longer duration than the incumbent. Overall, Champai Soren was facing the trust vote, but Hemant Soren led the charge.

The 48-year-old working president of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, who started his political career in the shadow of his father and party founder Shibu Soren, has surprised many over the past week with deft political moves that helped save the government in Jharkhand. Here’s how Hemant Soren managed to prevent President’s rule in the state and facilitate a smooth transfer of power to his close aide.

A Chief Minister Goes ‘Missing’

Last Monday, a team of Enforcement Directorate officials reached Hemant Soren’s Delhi residence and conducted searches in connection with the money laundering case against him. Official sources said Mr Soren was untraceable and even his staff members were clueless about his whereabouts. The BJP was quick to seize the opportunity and declare the Chief Minister “missing” and claim that Jharkhand was in the middle of a constitutional crisis. The JMM, however, kept assuring that they are in touch with Hemant Soren and he will appear before the agency on January 31. The plane on which Hemant Soren had reached Delhi remained parked in the airport, and ED officials said they had no idea about where he was.

On January 30, Hemant Soren surfaced in Ranchi and met MLAs of the ruling coalition of JMM, Congress and RJD. It appears that Mr Soren managed to pull off a rather challenging feat for a Chief Minister — a 1,300 km road trip dodging media, enforcement agencies and tool booth cameras.

In fact, Leader of Opposition in Jharkhand Assembly, Babulal Marandi, had cited media reports to claim that Mr Soren left his Delhi residence on foot on Sunday night. It is also unclear how the Chief Minister knew that ED officials would raid his house the next day and left just in time.

The Critical Signature Move

Hemant Soren was questioned by ED officials through Wednesday and when it became clear that he would be arrested, he pulled off a bold move that may have just saved his government. Hemant Soren refused to sign the arrest memo before he resigned as Chief Minister, according to ED sources. The arrest of a sitting Chief Minister would have created the possibility of the imposition of President’s rule in the state on the ground of Constitutional crisis.

Following his refusal to sign the memo, ED officials took Hemant Soren to the Governor’s residence. But when he went there, top legislators from the ruling coalition were with him. Immediately after Hemant Soren stepped down, Champai Soren staked claim to form the government.

Earlier, Champai Soren was elected leader of JMM’s legislative party, putting an end to speculation that Hemant Soren may pass the baton to his wife Kalpana. In fact, the opposition to the choice of Kalpana Soren as Chief Minister came from within the Soren family. Hemant Soren’s sister-in-law Sita, JMM MLA from Jama, told news agency PTI that she would oppose any move to make Kalpana Soren the chief minister because she “has no political experience”. The party leadership, in no mood to risk a rift in the ranks at this critical point, went for the safer option – Shibu Soren’s long-term aide, 67-year-old Champai Soren.

The Long Wait Before Oath

JMM and the Congress have accused Governor CP Radhakrishnan of delaying the government formation in Jharkhand, despite Champai Soren staking claim soon after Hemant Soren stepped down on January 31. On February 1, Champai Soren wrote to the Governor, saying that there is no government in Jharkhand for 18 hours and urging him to take immediate steps. Later that day, he and other leaders of the JMM-Congress alliance met the Governor. In fact, the MLAs backing Champai Soren also recorded a roll call of sorts and showed it to the Governor as a proof of majority.

The next day, Champai Soren took oath as Jharkhand Chief Minister along with two deputies, Congress’s Alamgir Alam and RJD’s Satyanand Bhokta.

Keeping The Flock Together

Champai Soren had taken the oath, but the real battle was the floor test held today. As Champai Soren and his two deputies took the oath, MLAs in the ruling coalition were put on a flight to Hyderabad. They were lodged in a private resort in Hyderabad to prevent any poaching attempt by the BJP ahead of the crucial floor test. In the meantime, Hemant Soren put in a request in court for permission to attend the majority vote. The JMM leadership also started reaching out to miffed MLAs such as Lobin Hembrom.

Just ahead of the floor test, the MLAs camping in Hyderabad were flown back to Ranchi. Hemant Soren, too, reached the Assembly in time. The result: Champai Soren cleared the trust vote with 47 votes in his favour. Twenty-nine votes were cast against him.

The Chandigarh Mayor elections controversy has come under the lens of the Supreme Court, which has declared that it would not allow the “murder of democracy” and ordered the Registrar General to secure all the records by 5 pm today. The court will hear the case on February 12.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said what the returning officer did “was like the murder of democracy”.

“It is obvious that he defaced the ballot papers. “⁠It is clearly visible in the video that he is looking into the camera and spoiling the ballot paper… Is this the way he conducts the elections? This is a mockery of democracy. This is a murder of democracy. This man should be prosecuted,” the Chief Justice said.

Taking a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s “Mohabbat ki dukaan” slogan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the Congress’s “dukaan” — meaning shop — is shutting down due to its efforts to “launch the same product over and over”.

The Prime Minister was speaking in Parliament during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on President Droupadi Murmu’s address at the beginning of budget session.

Targeting the Congress and the Gandhi family, the Prime Minister said it is the Congress that is responsible for the state of the Opposition. “They failed and didn’t allow other parties to perform either. They have ruined the parliament, the Opposition and the country. I believe the country needs a strong Opposition. The country has faced the ramifications of dynasty politics, and the Congress has faced it too,” he said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, he said, had shifted from Lok Sabha to Rajya Sabha. “Ghulam Nabi Azad shifted from the party altogether because of Parivarvaad. Efforts to launch the same product again and again are shutting down the Congress’s dukaan,” he said.

He told the Opposition that “dukaan” is their word, not his. In his nationwide campaign accusing the BJP of spreading hate, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly said that he wants to open “Mohabbat ki dukaan” in a market of hate.

In another dig at Mr Gandhi, he said the Congress had recently learnt the work of an automobile mechanic — an apparent reference to Rahul Gandhi’s visit to a bike repair shop at Delhi’s Karol Bagh. “The Congress has recently learnt the work of an auto mechanic, so they know what alignment is. But the alignment in the alliance has gone awry.” the Prime Minister said, referring to troubles within INDIA bloc months ahead of polls. 

Doubling down on his dynasty politics charge, the Prime Minister defended his colleagues Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah from counter-attacks from the Opposition. While Rajnath Singh’s son is an Uttar Pradesh MLA, Mr Shah’s son is the secretary of Board of Cricket Control in India.

“When a family runs a party and preference is given to a family, that is parivaarvaad. Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah do not run a party. For the country’s democracy, dynasty politics is a cause of concern. If two or 10 people from a family progress, I respect that, but here a family runs a party,” he said.

He also accused the Congress of resorting to a “cancel culture” and mindlessly criticising every move of the central government. “The Congress is stuck in a cancel culture. It says cancel to Make in India, Vocal for Local, Vande Bharat. I’m surprised. There’s so much hate that the country’s achievements are getting cancelled,” he said.