Hemant Soren's father and JMM chief, Shibu Soren (L).
Credit: PTI Photo
Shibu Soren is a Rajya Sabha member representing Jharkhand and the leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
Born on January 11, 1944, Soren belonged to Nemra village of Ramgarh district in Bihar at that time.
He formerly served as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand -- once in 2005 for about 10 days, then in 2008 and again in 2009, till 2010.
He is also the president of the JMM which is a part of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc.
Soren has three sons and a daughter. One of his sons - Hemant Soren - is currently the Chief Minister of Jharkhand.
Early life
At the age of 18, Soren had formed the Santhal Navyuvak Sangh. In 1972, Soren had formed the JMM along with Bengali Marxist trade union leader A K Roy and Kurmi-Mahato leader Binod Bihari Mahato, and became its general secretary.
Start of political career
Soren lost his first Lok Sabha elections in 1977 but was later elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1980 from Dumka.
Post that, he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989, 1991 and 1996 too.
He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2002 but resigned from his seat the same year after he won the Duma seat in the Lok Sabha by-polls.
Resignation from Manmohan Singh cabinet
After being re-elected in 2004, Soren was the Union Coal Minister in the Manmohan Singh government.
But he was directed to resign after an arrest warrant was issued in his name regarding a 30-year-old Chirudih case.
He went underground after the arrest warrant as he was found to be the main accused among 69 others with allegations to kill 10 people on January 23, 1975.
Soren had resigned on July 2004, and was able to get a bail after being in jail during judicial custody.
After he was released on bail on September 8, 2004, he was re-inducted in the cabinet and was returned his coal ministry on November 27, 2004.
Imprisonment and acquittal
Again, on November 28, 2006, he was found guilty in a 12-year-old case involving the kidnapping and murder of his former personal secretary Shashinath Jha.
It was alleged that Jha was kidnapped from Dhaula Kuan in Delhi on May 22, 1994, and killed in Ranchi.
According to the CBI chargesheet, the reason of Jha's murder was his knowledge about Congress and JMM deal to save the Narasimha Rao government in July 1993.
Jha knew all about the illegal transactions and had reportedly asked for his share from Soren, according to the chargesheet.
After his plea for bail was rejected, Soren was sentenced to life imprisonment on December 5, 2006.
Attempt on life
Soren survived an attempt on his life after bombs were hurled on his convoy, in which he was being escorted to jail in Dumka on June 25, 2007.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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