Jharkhand’s youngest chief minister on Wednesday resigned from his post and was arrested immediately by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a land fraud case. Son of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) doyen Shibu Soren, Hemant Soren named senior JMM leader Champai Soren as his successor. After being taken into custody, Hemant Soren shared on X a poem in Hindi, which said, “It’s a break. Life is a great battle, I have fought every moment, I will fight every moment but I will not beg for compromise”.
“I will not give up in vain… I will not accept defeat… Jai Jharkhand!” he added.
From taking charge of Jharkhand as its youngest chief minister at 38, Hemant Soren who was arrested by the ED has had a chequered career.
Not the first choice of his father Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) supremo Shibu Soren for inheriting his political legacy, Hemant was groomed in politics after his elder brother Durga died of suspected kidney failure in 2009.
Born on August 10, 1975, at Nemra village near Hazaribag, Hemant did his intermediate from Patna High School and later joined Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra in Ranchi, but dropped out.
He debuted as a Rajya Sabha member in 2009. Next year, he resigned from the Upper House of Parliament to take up the post of deputy chief minister in the BJP-led Arjun Munda government.
Two years later, the BJP-JMM government collapsed and the president’s rule was imposed in the state.
In 2013, he took charge of the state as its youngest chief minister, with the support of the Congress and the RJD.
His first stint as CM was, however, short-lived as the BJP seized power in 2014 and Raghubar Das became chief minister. He went on to become the leader of the opposition.
With the support of his allies Congress and RJD, he stormed to power in 2019, with his party, JMM, alone winning 30 assembly seats, its highest tally ever in the 81-member House.
Soren‘s tenure in the Chief Minister’s Office has not been smooth.
In 2022, he was staring at disqualification as an MLA, which would have resulted in him losing the CM’s post, as a mining lease given to him was allegedly renewed after he became the state’s chief minister.
Amid the conundrums, Hemant Soren established himself as a strong voice of the state’s dominant tribal community. From ensuring doorstep delivery of services with initiatives such as ‘Apke Adhikar, Apki Sarkar, Apke Dwar‘ to expanding the state government’s pension scheme to include more people, social welfare has been a trait of his regime.
He has also been a strong advocate for the economic benefits of mining activities in the state reaching the tribals.
(With PTI Inputs)
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Published: 01 Feb 2024, 07:48 AM IST
