Shibu Soren - Life

Life

Soren was born in Nemra village of Ramgarh district, in what was, at the time, Bihar state, India. He completed his schooling in the same district.During his schooling his father, a school headmaster, was murdered causing him to leave school to support his family.He started selling wood as a small business.He got married to Roopi Kisku. He has three sons Durga, Hemant, and Basant and a daughter, Anjali.

Soren began his political career in the early 1970s and quickly became known as a tribal leader. On 23 January 1975, he allegedly incited a campaign to drive away "outsiders", or the 'non-tribal' people. At least eleven people were killed. However, no one was found guilty. Mr. Soren and numerous others were charged with various crimes related to this incident. After extended legal proceedings, Soren was acquitted on March 6, 2008. However, possibly related incitement charges—dating from two yet earlier (1974) deaths—remain pending.

He lost his first Lok Sabha election in 1977. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980. In 1986, 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 with the help of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He won the Dumka 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 government, but was asked to resign following an arrest warrant in his name in the thirty-year old Chirudih case. 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 September 8, 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 in February/March 2005 .

On 2 March 2005, after much political bargaining and quid pro quo he was invited to form the government in Jharkhand by the Governor of Jharkhand, Syed Sibtey Razi. He resigned as Chief Minister nine days later, on 11 March, following his failure to obtain a vote of confidence in the assembly.