Ranchi, Jan 31 (PTI) Jharkhand Transport Minister Champai Soren was on Wednesday unanimously elected as the JMM legislative party leader by the ruling alliance in the state.

The ruling alliance proposed the senior Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader's name as the new chief minister.

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Champai Soren, who played a crucial role in the movement for the creation of a separate state of Jharkhand, was chosen after incumbent Hemant Soren stepped down amid speculations of his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate.

Soren has been a legislator from Serikela assembly constituency for more than three decades since 1991 and is known to be a loyalist of JMM supremo Shibu Soren.

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Born in November 1956 at Jilinggora village in Jharkhand's Seraikela-Kharsawan district, Soren is a matriculate and father of seven children. He is the son of a farmer and is not related to the Hemant Soren family.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)