Shibu Soren ( Santali: ᱥᱤᱵᱩ ᱥᱚᱨᱮᱱ) (born 11 January 1944) is an Indian politician who thrice served as

Chief Minister of Jharkhand The Chief Minister of Jharkhand is the chief executive of the Indian state of Jharkhand. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief ministe ...

, first in 2005 for 10 days (2 March to 12 March), then from 2008 to 2009 and again from 2009 to 2010. He was sworn in as the third

on 30 December 2009 after winning the Jharkhand Assembly elections. He resigned on 30 May 2010 after failing to obtain coalition support from the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

, his national party partner. He previously represented the

Dumka Dumka ( Santali: ᱫᱩᱢᱠᱟᱹ), the headquarters of the Dumka district and Santhal Pargana region, is a city in the state of Jharkhand, India. It was made the headquarters of the Santhal Pargana region, which was carved out of the Bha ...

constituency of Jharkhand in the 14th Lok Sabha, and is the President of the

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Jharkhand Mukti Morcha ( lit. ''Jharkhand Liberation Front''; JMM) is a State political party in the Indian state of Jharkhand which was founded by Binod Bihari Mahato. It has one seat in the 17th Lok Sabha. Shibu Soren is the president of t ...

(JMM) political party, a constituent of the UPA. On 9 January 2009, Soren was defeated in the by-election for the Tamar assembly constituency by political novice

Gopal Krishna Patar Gopal may refer to: * Gopal (caste), a social community of Odisha in India * Gopal (Krishna), the infant/child form of Lord Krishna * Gopal Bansa, ancient Kingdom in Nepal * The Gopalas, an early Gaudiya Vaishnava institution * Gandhian Organisatio ...

, alias Raja Peter, of the Jharkhand Party by a margin of over 9,000 votes. Soon he contested another by poll after the rebel BJP MLA Bishnu Prasad Bhaiya resigned from his seat in his favour and Soren won the by election from that Jamtara constituency. But the Government could not last longer. In 2009 after the Assembly elections Soren once again formed the Government along with the BJP, and was sworn in as Chief Minister of Jharkhand on 30 December 2009. He was the Minister for Coal in the

Union Cabinet The Union Council of Ministers Article 58 of the ''Constitution of India'' is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which is responsible for being the senior decision making body of the executive branch. It is chaired by t ...

in November 2006, when a Delhi district court found him guilty in the murder of his private secretary Shashi Nath Jha in 1994. He has also been indicted in the past on other criminal charges.

Life

Soren was born in Nemra village of

Ramgarh district Ramgarh district is one of the 24 districts in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It was also a military district during the British Regime, referred to then as Ramgarh district. Introduction and geography Ramgarh was made a district on 12 Sep ...

, in what was, at the time,

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, India. He belongs to

Santal The Santal or Santhal are an Austroasiatic speaking Munda ethnic group in South Asia. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal state of India in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar and A ...

tribe. He completed his schooling in the same district. During his schooling his father was murdered by thugs employed by money lenders. At the age of 18, he formed the Santhal Navyuvak Sangh. In 1972, Bengali Maxist trade union leader A. K. Roy, Kurmi-Mahato leader

Binod Bihari Mahato Binod Bihari Mahato (23 September 1923 – 18 December 1991) was an advocate and politician. He established Shivaji Samaj, a social reform organisation among the Kudumi Mahato people. He was the founder of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, established i ...

and Santal leader Shibu Soren formed

. Soren became the general secretary of JMM. JMM organised agitations to reclaim the tribal lands which were alienated. They started forcibly harvesting in the lands. Shibu Soren was known for delivering summary justice against landlords and money lenders, sometimes by holding own courts. On 23 January 1975, he allegedly incited a campaign to drive away "outsiders", or the 'non-tribal' people. At least eleven people were killed. Soren and numerous others were charged with various crimes related to this incident. After extended legal proceedings, Soren was acquitted on 6 March 2008. However, possibly related incitement charges—dating from two earlier deaths in 1974—remain pending. He lost his first

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

election in 1977. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980 from Dumka. An arrest warrant was issued against him. He was subsequently elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989, 1991 and 1996 as well. In 2002, he was elected to the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

. He won the

Lok Sabha seat in a by-election the same year and resigned his Rajya Sabha seat. He was re-elected in 2004. He became the Union Coal Minister in the

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

government, but was asked to resign following an arrest warrant in his name in the thirty-year-old Chirudih case. He was one of the main accused amongst 69, with allegations to kill 10 people (including 9 Muslims) on 23 January 1975, in a clash between tribals and Muslims. After the warrant was issued, he initially went underground. He resigned on 24 July 2004. He was able to secure bail after spending over a month in judicial custody; released on bail on 8 September, he was re-inducted into the Union Cabinet and given back the coal ministry on 27 November 2004, as part of a deal for a Congress-JMM alliance before assembly elections in

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

in February/March 2005. On 2 March 2005, after much political bargaining and quid pro quo he was invited to form the government in

by the Governor of Jharkhand. He resigned as Chief Minister nine days later, on 11 March, following his failure to obtain a

vote of confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

in the assembly. In 2019 Lok Sabha Elections he lost to Sunil Soren of BJP from Dumka constituency.

Life imprisonment and acquittal

On 28 November 2006, Soren was found guilty in a twelve-year-old case involving the kidnapping and murder of his former personal secretary Shashinath Jha. It was claimed that Jha was abducted from the

Dhaula Kuan Dhaula Kuan ( hi, धौला कुआँ) is a major intersection of roads in Delhi, India. The name also now refers to the neighbourhood surrounding the intersection. Intersection Five major thoroughfares in Delhi meet at Dhaula Kuan. ...

area in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

on 22 May 1994 and taken to Piska Nagari near

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

where he was killed. The CBI chargesheet stated that Jha's knowledge of the reported deal between the Congress and the JMM to save the Narasimha Rao government during the July 1993

no-confidence motion A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

and an act of sodomy was the motive behind the murder. The charge-sheet asserted that: "Jha was aware of the illegal transactions and also expected and demanded a substantial share out of this amount from Soren.

Soren resigned from his post of

Union Minister The Union Council of Ministers Article 58 of the ''Constitution of India'' is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which is responsible for being the senior decision making body of the executive branch. It is chaired by t ...

for Coal after

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

demanded that he should do so in the wake of the verdict. This is the first case of a Union Minister of the Government of India being found guilty of involvement in a murder. On 5 December 2006, Shibu Soren was sentenced to life imprisonment. A Delhi court rejected his bail plea, stating: 'We cannot overlook the fact that the appellant (Soren) has been convicted after a detailed and elaborate trial only in November 2006 and sentenced in December 2006. The bench also noted that he was also being tried in a number of other cases, including the case of mass murder in Jharkhand. On 25 June 2007, Shibu Soren was being escorted to his jail in

when his convoy was attacked by bombs, but no one was hurt. The Delhi High Court on 23 August 2007 overruled the District Court and acquitted Soren

stating that "The trial court's analysis is far from convincing and not sustainable." The five men convicted by the

Tis Hazari Tis Hazari is a neighbourhood in Old Delhi, India just south of the Northern Ridge. It is the location of the Tis Hazari Courts Complex which was inaugurated on 19 March 1958 by Chief Justice Mr. A. N. Bhandari of the then Punjab High Court. ...

court were held guilty of criminal conspiracy, abduction and murder primarily on the basis of

forensic evidence Forensic identification is the application of forensic science, or "forensics", and technology to identify specific objects from the trace evidence they leave, often at a crime scene or the scene of an accident. Forensic means "for the courts". H ...

provided by a post-mortem report of a body discovered in Jharkhand, namely a skull superimposition test and skull injury report. This was in addition to eyewitness accounts and some circumstantial evidence.Shibu Soren’s on expected lines
''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

''. 23 August 2007.

Personal life

He is married to Roopi Kisku. He has three sons

Durga Soren Durga Soren (1969-2009) was a leader of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and a member of Jharkhand Legislative Assembly. He was the son of JMM chief Shibu Soren and the husband of Sita Soren, who was a Member of Jharkhand Legislative Assembly from Jama c ...

Hemant Soren Hemant Soren (born 10 August 1975) is an Indian politician from Jharkhand, who is currently the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Previously, he had also served as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand from July 2013 to December 2014. He is also the presid ...

, and Basant Soren and a daughter, Anjali Soren.

is the current

, having held the same office previously from July 2013 to December 2014. His elder son

was MLA from

Jama ''The Journal of the American Medical Association'' (''JAMA'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of biom ...

from 1995 to 2005. Durga's wife Sita Soren is current MLA from

. Basant Soren is president of the Jharkhand Yuva Morcha, a youth wing of

and current MLA from

References

External links

Controversies have always tailed Shibu Soren
- 123bharath.com article dated 20 July 2004

-

rediff.com Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

article dated 21 July 2004
Shibu Soren goes underground
- Mid Day article dated 21 July 2004

-

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

article dated 24 July 2004
Shibu Soren resigns after arrest warrant
- Yahoo! India News story dated 24 July 2004
Shibu Soren: from farmer's son to fugitive minister
- 123bharath.com article dated 24 July 2004

- Indiainfo.com article dated 2 March 2004

- rediff.com article dated 2 March 2004
Home Page on the Parliament of India's Website

News timeline for Shibu Soren
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soren, Shibu 1944 births Living people Santali people Chief Ministers of Jharkhand Overturned convictions People acquitted of murder Jharkhand Mukti Morcha politicians Rajya Sabha members from Bihar Rajya Sabha members from Jharkhand India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 2004–2009 India MPs 2009–2014 India MPs 2014–2019 People from Ramgarh district Lok Sabha members from Jharkhand People from Dumka district People from Jamtara district Coal Ministers of India