NEW DELHI: Veteran tribal leader and former Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren, fondly known as “Dishom Guru”, passed away on Monday. He was 81.
His son, Jharkhand Chief Minister, Hemant Soren confirmed the news.
Shibu Soren was undergoing treatment at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi for over a month for kidney-related problems. He was on ventilator support and in critical condition.
He is survived by his wife, Roopi Soren, and three children.
“Respected Dishom Guruji has left us all… I have become ‘shunya’ (zero) today,” Hemant Soren posted on X.
Born on January 11, 1944, in Nemra village (now in Jharkhand), Shibu Soren rose from modest tribal roots to become one a towering political figure in eastern India.
He founded the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in 1972 and led the decades-long movement for a separate Jharkhand state, representing the aspirations of the Santhal tribal community.
Soren served as Chief Minister of Jharkhand three times — briefly in 2005, and again in 2008–09 and 2009–10. He was also a multiple-term MP from Dumka, served in the Rajya Sabha, and held the position of Union Coal Minister in the early 2000s.
Soren was first elected to the Lok Sabha from Dumka in 1980, after a failed bid in 1977.
He went on to serve multiple terms in Parliament and was appointed Union Coal Minister in 2004 during the UPA government. But his ministerial stint was cut short when an arrest warrant in an old case forced his resignation. He returned briefly to the Cabinet later that year after securing bail.
In 2005, Shibu Soren became Chief Minister of Jharkhand, but his government lasted just nine days after he failed to prove his majority. He returned as CM again in 2008 and 2009, leading a fragile alliance.
One of the darkest chapters in Soren’s life came in 2006, when he was convicted for the abduction and murder of his former secretary Shashinath Jha. The case linked back to the alleged 1993 JMM bribery scandal to save the Narasimha Rao government.
Soren was sentenced to life imprisonment, becoming the first sitting Union Minister convicted of murder. But in 2007, the Delhi High Court acquitted him, citing lack of credible evidence and gaps in the trial court’s reasoning.
Despite controversies during his career, Soren remained a formidable grassroots leader, and under his leadership, the JMM became a dominant force in Jharkhand’s tribal and regional politics. His family, including sons Hemant and Basant, continues to wield significant political influence in the state.