Still in ED custody, Hemant was at the centre of the discussion on the floor of the house. He made an emotive speech, playing up his tribal identity speech, and dubbing the ED action as political vendetta by ‘anti tribal’ BJP. “If they feel that by putting me behind the bars they will succeed in their AIM of finishing an Adivasi leader or finishing the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, they are mistaken”, he declared. “This is Jharkhand, which has fought for its rights and will not back now.” Champai Soren won the trust vote with 47 MLAs backing him.

Hemant, 48, wanted to project himself as a political martyr, and his speech reflected his concern about an aggressive BJP ahead of Lok Sabha polls and state election. His arrest poses an existential threat to his party, which was founded by his father, Shibu Soren. And the turn of events brings into focus yet again the wobbliness of Jharkhand politics.

Hemant was thrust into the thick of political action when his elder brother Durga Soren died in 2009. Durga, who had a rustic appeal like his father, was senior Soren’s original choice as his political successor. Hemant had an urban image and his party men were sceptical about his political capacity in his initial years. He but came into his own as an opposition leader during the tenure Raghubar Das, who headed the first full-term government in the state.

Hemant’s vociferous espousal of tribal issues, especially his campaign against the Das’s regime’s attempts to amend laws to allow leasing of tribal land for non-agricultural purposes, strengthening his credentials. The people’s ire against the BJP installing Das, a non-tribal, as chief minister also helped Hemant to come to power in 2019. The JJM has 30 members in 81-seat assembly and is in an alliance with the Congress,

“The BJP has misused central investigating agencies to target opposition leaders”, said Rajesh Thakur, president Jharkhand Congress. “It has destabilised governments in many states and it tried the same in Jharkhand. But we will not let them succeed.”

In its 24 years of existence, Jharkhand has had 12 chief ministers. President’s rule has been imposed three times. The first chief minister Babulal Marandi’s term was cut short when he resigned in 2003. Arjun Munda, who succeeded Marandi, had three incomplete terms. Shibu Soren had three terms. It was in Jharkhand that for the first time an independent MLA—Madhu Koda in 2006—became chief minister. (IPA Service)