Ranchi: Hemant Soren on Wednesday resigned as Jharkhand Chief Minister after more than seven hours of questioning by the ED in a money laundering case, and senior JMM leader Champai Soren was named as his successor.

Meanwhile, JMM’s Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji claimed that the 48-year-old Hemant Soren was in the “custody” of the Enforcement Directorate.

“Hemant Soren has resigned as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. The ruling JMM-Congress-RJD alliance has proposed the name of senior JMM leader Champai Soren as the new CM,” state Congress president Rajesh Thakur said.

“We have staked a claim to form the new government with the support of 47 MLAs,” JMM legislative party leader Champai Soren told reporters.

Earlier, the legislators gathered at Hemant Soren’s residence elected the transport minister Champai Soren as the leader of the JMM legislative party with the party spokesperson Vinod Pandey saying that a consensus was reached on his name.

A legislator from the Serikela assembly constituency for more than three decades since 1991, Champai Soren is known to be a loyalist of JMM supremo Shibu Soren.

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