Ranchi,  April 30: JMM stalwart Shibu Soren has been kept confined to a few rooms inside his Morabadi residence in Ranchi and is not even being allowed to meet or speak to those he wants, including some of his oldest colleagues in the three-decade-long Jharkhand statehood movement.

Mr Soren’s virtual confinement started Thursday noon when his son, JMM legislator Hemant Soren, prepared to announce that the 66-year-old leader would resign as chief minister if the BJP began the process of forming a new government with JMM support, said reliable sources in the JMM and insiders at Mr Soren’s residence on Friday.
“Guruji (as Shibu Soren is known in Jharkhand) has been desperately lonely because he has been prevented from meeting and talking to those he wants for about two days now. A few long-time JMM sympathisers, who played a role in Guruji’s Jharkhand movement, have wanted to see him, but permission has been denied to all,” said an aide working at Mr Soren’s residence.
According to some JMM leaders, Mr Soren is being kept “hidden” because of his habit of speaking his mind. “He is kept away from journalists. Guruji is deeply sad,” said a JMM leader close to Mr Soren.
There had been plans to shift Mr Shibu Soren to Chennai for medical treatment the day the latter voted in favour of the UPA and angered the BJP leadership, prompting it to announce plans to withdraw support. “Guruji bitterly protested against the plan to move him to Chennai for an operation that day, saying aloud that he was okay medically and needed no operation or treatment at the moment, especially at such a politically crucial hour. Guruji prevailed,” said a senior JMM legislator, requesting anonymity.
“Plans were afoot to install Hemant Soren as chief minister, no matter of which government, UPA or NDA, or whatever, during the time Guruji would be in Chennai. Guruji’s insistence spoiled that plan,” said a JMM legislator.
Several JMM leaders said Mr Soren is “mentally sound, even though he is turning frail”.
On Friday night, Mr Hemant Soren threw a dinner party for JMM legislators and senior functionaries at the CM’s official residence on Ranchi’s Kanke Road. Soren Senior was reportedly not invited to this party and stayed put in his Morabadi residence.

Anand S.T. Das