Hemant Soren meets Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi; discusses preparations for Jharkhand Assembly elections

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren with his wife and JMM leader Kalpana Soren during a meeting with LoP in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, party President Mallikarjun Kharge and party MP KC Venugopal. Pic/PTI

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and discussed the upcoming Jharkhand assembly elections, reported news agency PTI.

The meeting comes days after former Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren joined the BJP after resigning from the JMM citing dissatisfaction with the party's current style of functioning and "bitter humiliation".

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Soren met Kharge and Gandhi at the Congress president's residence in Delhi. Congress general secretary organisation K C Venugopal and Soren's wife Kalpana Soren were also present during the meeting.

Though Soren termed the meeting as a courtesy call, preparations for the Jharkhand assembly elections later this year were learnt to have been discussed, reported PTI.

Addressing media persons, after his meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren said "I was planning to meet them for a long time. It was a courtesy meeting. We will now have discussions regarding the Jharkhand Assembly Elections. Everything else is fine and peaceful. We will run the government with full strength and in the future win the elections too," reported ANI.

Champai Soren was appointed chief minister on February 2, following Hemant Soren's resignation and subsequent arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case. He left the post on July 3, clearing the way for Hemant Soren to resume office on July 4 after being granted bail.

The Congress and the JMM are part of an alliance government in the state.

Earlier on Monday, Jharkhand CM Soren visited Sufi saint Khwaja Gareeb Nawaz in Ajmer, Rajasthan and prayed for the well-being of his state and the country, reported ANI.

He said, "Once again I reached Sufi saint Khwaja Gareeb Nawaz...I prayed for the well-being of the people of this state and country," reported ANI.

Jharkhand is set to witness an election to the 81-member Legislative Assembly later this year as the current government's tenure ends in 2024. The Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to announce the dates. In the 2020 Assembly elections, the JMM won 30 seats and the Congress won 16 seats. In the recent Lok Sabha election BJP had won the largest number of seats with 8 wins, the JMM won 3 seats and the Congress 2.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)