Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren announced Tuesday that he is joining the BJP to protect tribal identity and existence in the state’s Santhal Pargana region, which he says is threatened by “rampant” infiltration from Bangladesh.

Soren, a senior JMM leader who briefly served as chief minister after Hemant Soren’s resignation, slammed other parties for engaging in vote bank politics, claiming that only the BJP is genuinely addressing tribal concerns.

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“Today, Bangladeshi infiltration has become a big problem in Santhal Pargana, the holy land of Baba Tilka Manjhi and Sido-Kanhu. What can be more unfortunate than the fact that these infiltrators are occupying the lands of the descendants of those heroes who never accepted slavery of the British… the dignity of our mothers, sisters and daughters is in danger,” Champai Soren said in a post on X.

Soren, known as ‘Jharkhand’s Tiger’ for his role in the state’s creation in the 1990s, is scheduled to arrive in Ranchi from Delhi on Wednesday.

“If these intruders, who are causing economic and social harm to the tribals and natives, are not stopped, the existence of our society in Santhal Pargana will be in danger. In many areas including Pakur, Rajmahal, their number has become more than that of tribals. Apart from politics, we have to make this issue a social movement, only then the existence of tribals will be saved,” he said.

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“Only BJP seems serious on this issue and other parties are ignoring it for the sake of vote bank politics. Therefore, in this struggle to save the identity and existence of the tribals, I have decided to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, expressing faith in the leadership of the honourable Prime Minister @narendramodi and Home Minister @AmitShah,” Champai Soren added.

The veteran politician had previously described experiencing “bitter humiliation” during his tenure as chief minister, which led him to consider alternative paths. He claimed that all his government programs scheduled for the first week of July were abruptly canceled by the party leadership without his prior knowledge.

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The JMM leader mentioned that he was left with three choices: resign from politics, form a new party, or align with a like-minded group. He stated, “The people of Kolhan region stood with me at every step, and they rejected the option of taking ‘sanyas’. There was no such forum/platform in the party where I could express my pain and leaders senior to me are away from politics due to health reasons,” seemingly referencing JMM supremo Shibu Soren, under whose leadership he had joined the movement for a separate Jharkhand.

He called for support in this new phase of his struggle for the rights and issues of tribals, natives, Dalits, backward classes, the poor, laborers, farmers, women, youth, and common people of Jharkhand. Champai Soren had taken office as the 12th chief minister of Jharkhand on February 2, shortly after his predecessor Hemant Soren resigned just before being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.