Shibu Soren

It was way back in 1969 when Shibu Soren founded the Sonat Santhal Samaj and has ever since held sway on the tribal sentiments by upholding their rights.

It was way back in 1969 when Shibu Soren founded the Sonat Santhal Samaj and has ever since held sway on the tribal sentiments by upholding their rights and later the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) of which he has been the General Secretary since 1971.

He has been first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980 and has been re-elected for several terms in a series. He has been the present of the JMM since 1986. Later in 1995, when the Jharkhand area autonomous council that comprised 18 districts of Santhal Pargana and Chotanagpur was formed, Soren was nominated its chairman. In 1997 Soren went on to support the minority government of Laloo Prasad Yadav with a condition of a separate Jharkhand bill in the assembly and finally the formation of the separate Jharkhand state became a reality in 2000 through a bill passed in the Parliament.

Soren's political career has all through been marked with highs and lows including several occasions of imprisonments for participation in movements against the exploitation of moneylenders and has been charge sheeted by the CBI for the possession of assets disproportionate to his income.

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