Giridih: Even before her husband, jailed Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, resigned and was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 31 January, all eyes were set on his wife, Kalpana Murmu Soren.
Three months since, Kalpana has been thrust into public life. She has been campaigning for the Gandey assembly bypoll scheduled Monday, and has also emerged as a prominent campaigner for the JMM in the Lok Sabha elections.
While some compare her to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita Kejriwal, others see in her former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, who was handed over the reins of Bihar by her husband Lalu Prasad Yadav back in 1997.
Back then, Lalu ensured that he continued to call the shots in Bihar after he was issued a non-bailable arrest warrant by a designated CBI court in the fodder scam case. He obtained a temporary stay from the Supreme Court, only to quietly announce his resignation, and then nonchalantly anointed his wife Rabri Devi as his successor.
When asked about these comparisons, Kalpana instead shot back and asked, “Can you see that (Rabri Devi in me)?”
“Until and unless you give me a chance, how can I show myself to you? Give me a chance and see for yourself,” she told ThePrint in an interview.
Kalpana, therefore, seems to be forging her own path and emerging as a leader in her own right — backed by several party loyalists who have remained the force behind Hemant’s campaigns as well.
Impressed by her oratory and ability to connect with people, JMM sees a new hope in her.
Though speculation around her being announced as Hemant’s successor to the CM’s post was laid to rest for the time being when JMM leader Champai Soren took over the post after Hemant’s arrest, Kalpana has since hurtled into the political fray.
Her first speech on 4 March was full of rhetoric and tears as well as a show of solidarity.
“My in-laws are teary-eyed and I thought I would not cry, but I am standing teary-eyed…However, seeing your love and affection, I am feeling strong. I am seeing the anger… there is fire,” she said in Hindi. That fire has since found its way into her speeches and public interactions.
In April, almost two months after addressing rallies, she also filed her nomination as the JMM candidate for the Gandey assembly bypoll in the state.
She has since remained saree-clad in public view, heralded from one rally to another, entertaining everybody who wants to meet her with a smile, and impressing everyone with a strong command over five languages — Odia, Bengali, English, Hindi and Santhali.
The Gandey seat fell vacant merely a month before Hemant’s arrest, after the sudden resignation of JMM legislator Sarfaraz Ahmad on 30 December 2023, citing personal reasons. Ahmad was later elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha on 14 March.
Kalpana’s nomination, therefore, fed into the frenzied speculation that the JMM had a succession plan for her because one of the biggest hurdles for her to be made CM was that she was not a sitting MLA, and would have had to get elected for the assembly within six months to hold the post.
However, she maintains that the impression that the party had a succession plan for her is incorrect and that the decision was “sudden”.
She claims that the decision for her political debut was taken by the “party line”, and that the party’s decisions are being accepted by them “as soldiers, warriors and party workers”.
Calling Hemant the “soul” of the party, she told ThePrint, “Every party worker is so shattered by this action that has been taken before elections. But right now, we are all together, and we are fighting together. And every party worker is very energised, and they are ready to fight.”
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‘Deshbhakti’
Kalpana told ThePrint that her father was in the Army and served with the Shanti Sena (India Peace Brigade) in Sri Lanka as well.
Being the daughter of a soldier, she said that “deshbhakti (patriotism)” had been instilled in her since childhood. She beamed with pride as she spoke of culture, traditions, food habits and the variety of experiences she had growing up.
“It’s almost like carrying a mini-India with you because you meet so many families from different parts of India,” she said. “Some days you’re having makke di roti and sarson da saag, and the very next day you’re having idli dosa…and I love it all.”
It was probably these experiences that Kalpana wanted to share with her husband when they celebrated their anniversary last year in Amritsar. She recalled how she wanted to show him around, having fond memories associated with Punjab.
Her one wish was to eat a Punjabi thali at a dhaba there. However, she had to settle for hotel food after insistence from party officials, who cited safety concerns.
The couple did manage to get a quintessential picture taken, with the Golden Temple in the background, heads covered and hands joined in a namaste. They were also seen having langar at the gurdwara.
However, apart from the experiences, she spoke of the grit that comes along with having a family member in the Army. “This Army personnel routine makes you disciplined and organised. You also become a fighter. Your father is posted somewhere and you live with your mother,” she told ThePrint.
Kalpana also spoke fondly of her mother, recalling that she is a tribal woman and didn’t speak Hindi at the time her husband was on these postings.
The ‘connection’
Kalpana completed her classes 10 and 12 as well as her engineering degree in Odisha. Apart from being a homemaker, she also runs a school in Ranchi.
When asked if she had a corporate career in mind after her engineering degree, she laughed and said, “Definitely!”
She had an arranged marriage with Hemant Soren in 2006. “Before marriage, your priorities are different. After getting married, I got the responsibility of my family, who are in politics,” she said.
After getting married, she did her MBA through a distance learning course from Pune’s Symbiosis College. She recalled that she was pregnant at the time she was doing her MBA. “I had my degree in hand before my delivery…I was so happy and my family supported me for it…I really admire them,” she added.
This is also where she found her connection with her husband. “I want every woman to be educated. Education is very important…Hemant ji also has the same feeling, so we have that connection.”
A succession plan?
In the interview, Kalpana explained that the first insistence on her more active involvement in the party began on 31 January — the day her husband was arrested by the ED. People, she said, kept insisting on her “presence”.
The announcement of her being more active in politics came on 3 March, on X (formerly Twitter), on Hemant Soren’s account.
She wrote in Hindi that she was starting her public life “on the demand of the people of Jharkhand and the innumerable hard-working workers of the JMM family”.
Until Hemant comes back, she wrote, “I will continue to share his thoughts with all of you as his voice and will continue to serve you.”
आज अपने जन्मदिन और कल गिरिडीह में झामुमो के स्थापना दिवस कार्यक्रम में शामिल होने से पहले आज झारखण्ड राज्य के निर्माता और झामुमो के माननीय अध्यक्ष आदरणीय बाबा दिशोम गुरुजी और मां से आशीर्वाद लिया। आज ही सुबह हेमन्त जी से भी मुलाकात की।
मेरे पिता भारतीय सेना में थे। वह सेना से… pic.twitter.com/IBZmBVnXr9
— Hemant Soren (@HemantSorenJMM) March 3, 2024
She then formally made her entry into politics on 4 March, which was being celebrated to mark the 51st Foundation Day of the JMM in Giridih district.
When asked if her husband gave her any political mantra or advice when she decided to take the plunge, she said that he only asked her to speak the truth and just be herself.
“Initially, you have a family of 15-20 people but now, it’s a family of 3.5 crore people of Jharkhand,” she said.
She seems to have gotten into a routine with her day-long rallies, starting her day with yoga in the morning before taking on the day’s campaign work and keeping some green tea close by. Her sons — aged 15 and 12 — often accompany her at the rallies.
For Gandey, she has several goals in mind. She said she wants to work on road connectivity, cold storage maintenance, and the Mega Lift Irrigation Scheme launched by her husband. “Being a woman, I also want a degree college here. I have especially made this promise for the women.”
‘A personal decision’
The strongest resistance over Kalpana’s political career came from within her family — from her sister-in-law and three-term JMM MLA Sita Soren.
On 31 January, Sita had also commented on the rumours about Kalpana being made the CM.
“I would like to ask why only Kalpana Soren, who is not even an MLA and has no political experience. Under what circumstances is her name doing the rounds as the next chief minister when there are so many senior leaders in the party?” she said to news agency PTI.
“If they want to elect from the family, I am the seniormost and have been an MLA for around 14 years,” she added.
Days after Kalpana filed her nomination for the Gandey assembly bypoll, Sita joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “Matter of morality for me,” she was quoted as saying by the media after she joined the party in Delhi.
In her resignation letter addressed to JMM supremo and her father-in-law, Shibu Soren, Sita alleged that after the death of her husband, Durga Soren, she and her family had been “victims of continuous neglect”.
“We have been isolated by the party and family members, which has been extremely painful for me. I had hoped that the situation would improve with time, but unfortunately, it didn’t happen,” her resignation letter said.
Following this, Kalpana then took to social media to express her displeasure. On 20 March, she posted on X, “Jharkhand ke DNA me nahi hai jhuk jana (Bowing down is not in the DNA of anyone who is from Jharkhand)”. She spoke of Durga Soren, asserting that he was a father figure to her husband.
हेमन्त जी के लिए स्वर्गीय दुर्गा दा, सिर्फ बड़े भाई नहीं बल्कि पिता तुल्य अभिभावक के रूप में रहे।
2006 में ब्याह के उपरांत इस बलिदानी परिवार का हिस्सा बनने के बाद मैंने हेमन्त जी का अपने बड़े भाई के प्रति आदर तथा समर्पण और स्वर्गीय दुर्गा दा का हेमन्त जी के प्रति प्यार देखा।… pic.twitter.com/MHdyNaf3xU
— Hemant Soren (@HemantSorenJMM) March 20, 2024
However, Sita was not amused. She cautioned those “shedding crocodile tears in the name of her husband”, adding, “If my children and I children expose the horrific truth, the political dreams of several people will be shattered. The people of Jharkhand will spit in the name of those who conspired to eliminate Durga Soren and his people.”
However, since then, Kalpana has been careful about her response to questions about her sister-in-law’s rebellion. “The decision that she has taken is personal. Being her family member, I just convey my best wishes to her,” she told ThePrint. “We should also respect her decision.”
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‘Modi factor not relevant’
Apart from the Sita Soren episode, the rest of Kalpana’s family as well as several top JMM party members seem to be rallying behind her.
She pointed out that her father-in-law Shibu Soren was present when she filed her nomination for the bypoll as well as during the Ooposition INDIA bloc’s Ulgulan Nyay rally in Ranchi in April — despite not being in the pink of health.
“So I have the blessings of my father-in-law, my husband and the people of Gandey,” she said.
Kalpana also asserted that she does not see the Modi factor playing into the Jharkhand elections. “We, as Jharkhand people and Jharkhand state, have always been treated as a stepson,” she claimed.
Arvind Kejriwal’s subsequent arrest on 21 March also led to comparisons between Kalpana and Sunita Kejriwal. However, the two of them emerged as allies — as two women who wanted to stand firm by their husbands in the face of allegations by the ED.
They met in March and hugged each other in a show of solidarity. “I came here to meet Sunita Kejriwal to sympathise with her and we have taken a vow to fight against this,” Kalpana was quoted as saying by the media after the meeting.
The women also took centre stage in more ways than one at the INDIA bloc ‘Maharally’ in Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on 31 March — with two empty chairs reserved for their husbands.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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