Former Jharkhand CM Shibu Soren Passes Away

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren passed away at Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi, where he had been undergoing treatment for a prolonged illness.

Image: ANI

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren passed away on Monday at Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi, where he had been undergoing treatment for a prolonged illness. His son and current Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren confirmed the news.

CM Heman Soren announced the death in a post on X and said, "Respected Dishoom Guru has left us all. Today, I have become empty".

Shibu Soren died at the age of 81 after a prolonged illness, for which he was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Delhi. The hospital declared him dead at 8:56 a.m. today.

The hospital, in its statement, said, "He died after a prolonged illness. He was suffering from a kidney ailment and had also suffered a stroke, a month and a half ago. He was on the life support system for the last month."

He is popularly known as "Guruji" or "Dishom Guru" in his home state and served thrice as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand in 2005, 2008-2009, and 2009-2010. His tenures were, however, often short due to political challenges.

He was born on January 11, 1944, in Nemra village, then part of Bihar (now in Jharkhand). Shubu Soren belonged to the Santal (Santhal) tribal group.

Shibu Soren formed the Santhal Navyuvak Sangh, an organisation focused on tribal liberation and land rights, when he was 18 years old.

In 1972, he cofounded the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha with A.K. Roy and Binod Bihari Mahato, advocating for a separate Jharkhand state and tribal upliftment and later became the General Secretary of the JMM.