A visit to Delhi by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren has sparked intense speculation about his political future, amid rumours of a possible switch to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Soren, a senior leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), arrived in the capital on Sunday.
Soon after arriving at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, Soren, ignored questions on the potential defection and said, "I have come here for my personal work."
The JMM has dismissed the reports as "baseless speculation". Party spokesperson Manoj Pandey described the BJP as a "sinking ship" and said Soren would never consider joining it.
The development comes ahead of the Jharkhand assembly elections, scheduled to take place later this year.
Soren was appointed Chief Minister in January after Hemant Soren was arrested in an alleged land scam case. However, he stepped down in July after Hemant Soren was granted bail and resumed the top post.
Following this, speculation was rife that Champai Soren was reportedly not happy with the way he was unceremoniously removed from the top post to pave way for Hemant Soren to become the Chief Minister of Jharkhand once again.
Some media reports had on Friday claimed that Soren could join the saffron party ahead of the assembly elections. But, Soren had on Saturday said he had no idea about the speculations.
"I don't know anything about such speculations and reports... I am where I am..." he had told reporters.
When BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Amar Bauri was asked about speculations of Soren joining the BJP, he said, "I have no official confirmation. I am getting information only through the media."
