Back in the hot seat

Hemant Soren has declared a moral triumph by getting out of jail, but the real test will be on the hustings

- SONI MISHRA

Sporting a beard and in traditional kurta-pyjama with a ‘gamcha’ around his neck, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren now looks a lot like his father, former chief minister Shibu Soren. In a post on X, he implied as much when he put up a photo with the senior Soren and wrote that he was his father’s “emerging reflection”.

It is clearly a conscious decision. The senior Soren, who founded the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, is a hero among the tribals for his decades-long struggle for a separate state. Hemant’s effort is to go back to the basics and emphasise his tribal identity. His five-month incarceration, which followed his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31 in connection with the alleged irregularities in a land purchase in Ranchi, was described by his supporters as the victimisation of a tribal leader. He was released on June 28 after the Jharkhand High Court granted him bail. He took oath as chief minister on July 4.