By sidelining the Congress, Hemant Soren has proved his political acumen

Not many know that Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren — a dropout of mechanical engineering at the Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi — loves to cook in his free time and considers it a stressbuster. And when it comes to politics, few can read what is cooking in his mind. Certainly not the Congress, his ally.

While dealing with the party in finalising the name for the election to the sole Rajya Sabha seat in Jharkhand, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader has proved politics is not just something that runs in his family but is his own passion too.

Soon after the announcement of the Rajya Sabha election, the Congress started mounting pressure on him to field its candidate for the seat. It wanted the JMM to pick from the list of common candidates prepared by the Congress or suggest a name of its own choice. Known as an astute person with no-nonsense talk, Hemant watched the development with a cool head but no commitment.

Second son to JMM founder Shibu Soren, the 46-year-old leader takes up only those tasks in which he will succeed. Hemant took a flight to New Delhi and met Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday, May 28. Little did Congress leaders in the state know of his well-planned strategy.

Hemant met the Congress president only to send the message that he respected the coalition “dharma” and would not take any decision on the Rajya Sabha candidate without consulting the partner. A top JMM leader in Ranchi said the Congress leaders had laid a trap but Hemant did not walk into it.

During the hour-long discussion, Sonia reportedly proposed the names the party had shortlisted and asked Hemant to announce one as a common candidate of the JMM-Congress alliance, of which Rashtriya Janata Dal is part. She wanted Hemant to hold a joint press conference at Congress headquarters to announce the name because it would send the message that the United Progressive Alliance was strong in Jharkhand, the JMM leader said.

Hemant said he needed to discuss the issue with JMM President Shibu Soren. The Congress leaders, however, insisted that he do so immediately on the phone. Citing his father’s ill health, Hemant refused to talk on the phone and assured Sonia he would discuss the Congress’ suggestions on a common candidate with his father before making an announcement.

The Congress was so confident that the state unit president, Rajesh Thakur, tweeted soon after the meeting that the “Congress is coming”, indicating that the JMM had agreed on the party’s nominee.

The JMM’s announcement on Monday (May 30) left the Congress shell-shocked. The party fielded Mahua Maji, whose name was not on the Congress panel. Besides the denial of the ticket, the Congress leaders in Jharkhand believed that it was an insult to their leader. A senior Congress functionary said Hemant had a lengthy discussion with Sonia and had given her an assurance on this. But they never thought he would go back on his word.

Political pundits in Ranchi said the Congress made two mistakes. First, the state unit should have resolved the issue at local level instead of involving Sonia. Second, the Congress staked its claim on the strength of the support it had given Shibu Soren for getting him elected to the upper house in June 2020. It sent the message that the Congress was trying to make a deal despite the fact, as claimed by JMM leaders, that it never sought its support on this. The JMM has 30 MLAs, three more than the 27 first-preference votes required to ensure its candidate’s victory.

By sidelining the Congress, Hemant has proved his political acumen. He has a clear calculation that the Congress at present is not in a position to take any stern decision on the coalition.