Tribal icon Shibu Soren dies at 81
Soren is survived by wife Roopi Soren, sons Hemant and Basant and daughter Anjali. Another son Durga Soren died in 2009. While Hemant is the Jharkhand Chief Minister and recently took charge as the JMM president, Basant is an MLA.
Soren had been under treatment at Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital for over a month and his condition was critical for the past few days.
Soren's son and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren shared the news of his father's death on X. "Beloved Dishom Guruji has left us. I lost everything today," he said. The hospital said in a statement that Soren was admitted on June 19 and was under the care of Dr A K Bhalla, senior consultant, Nephrology. "Despite the best efforts of our multidisciplinary medical team, Shibu Soren passed away peacefully on Monday with his family at the bedside. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, his loved ones and the people of Jharkhand in this moment of grief and loss of a very popular mass leader," the statement said.
Over a four-decade career in politics, Soren was elected to the Lok Sabha eight times and served as a Rajya Sabha MP for two terms, the second ongoing.
Belonging to the Santhal community, Shibu Soren was born in the Ramgarh district, which was then part of Bihar. He tied up with Leftist trade union leader AK Roy and Kurmi Mahato leader Binod Bihari Mahato to form the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in 1972. Over the years, Soren emerged as a key face of the statehood movement, which led to the formation of Jharkhand in 2000.
He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980 from Dumka, which later turned into a stronghold of the JMM. The veteran leader suffered defeat at his bastion in 2019, when the BJP's Nalin Soren won by a margin of over 45,000 votes.
Soren served as a Union Minister and a three-time Chief Minister but could not complete any of the terms. He became Jharkhand Chief Minister for the first time in 2005 but had to resign just nine days later after he failed to clear the floor test in the Assembly. Two more terms in the top post followed, but both lasted merely a few months, thanks to the twists and turns of coalition politics. The same could be said of his journey in the Union Cabinet. Soren joined the Manmohan Singh government in 2004, but he was asked to resign after an arrest warrant was issued in the 1974 Chirudih case linked to a clash between tribals and Muslims. After he was released on bail, he was re-inducted into the Union Cabinet but resigned to take over as Jharkhand Chief Minister. After his 10-day term, he returned as Union Coal Minister in 2006. Less than a year later, he was convicted in the murder case of his former secretary, Shashinath Jha, and had to resign again.
This is the first instance of a Union Minister found guilty of involvement in a murder. The Delhi High Court later acquitted him in the case. His last term as Chief Minister ended after his party backed a motion brought by the UPA government in Parliament, despite being the BJP's ally in Jharkhand. Furious over the move, the BJP withdrew support and Soren's government collapsed. President Droupadi Murmu said Soren's death is a big loss "in the space of social justice". "He championed the cause of tribal identity and formation of the state of Jharkhand.
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