Who is Kalpana Soren, who may become Jharkhand’s next CM?
Kalpana is a multi-faceted woman, and has several achievements in various spheres – education, farming, real estate, and social causes
Kalpana Soren, the wife of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, may be given the chief minister’s post if he is arrested in an alleged money laundering case, according to sources in the ruling party in the state, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
Hemant Soren is scheduled to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday (January 31) for questioning in an alleged land scam.
Though the chief minister had ruled out the possibility of his wife contesting elections in the near future, JMM sources say that the ruling alliance MLAs have agreed that she should succeed Soren as the CM if he is arrested.
Kalpana is not an MLA, and if she is sworn in as the next chief minister, she will have to become a member of the state assembly by winning a by-election within six months. However, there may be a legal hurdle she will have to tackle. There is a Constitutional provision that by-elections cannot be held if the term of the assembly will expire in less than a year. The elections to the Jharkhand assembly are due this November.
Multi-faceted woman
Kalpana, in her late forties, hails from Mayurbhanj district in Odisha, and is from a non-political family. Her father is a businessman, and her mother a homemaker.
Hemant Soren married Kalpana in 2006, and the couple has two sons, Nikhil and Ansh.
Kalpana has a sound academic background, having completed engineering and MBA. She is a multi-faceted woman, and has several achievements in various spheres – education, farming, real estate, and social causes.
She reportedly manages a school, apart from being the owner of some commercial buildings. She is also said to be involved in organic farming and philanthropic work. She takes an active interest in women and child empowerment, attending several programmes in this connection.
She was in the midst of a controversy in 2022 when the former chief minister of Jharkhand Raghubar Das accused Hemant Soren of misusing his position as the CM to allot an industrial plot to a company owned by his wife.