Who is Hemant Soren?

Hemant Soren, Jharkhand chief minister, is facing accusations of violating the office-of-profit rule. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has reportedly sent a recommendation to Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais on the allegations. 

The allegations were brought by Jharkhand BJP which said Chief Minister Soren should be removed from the assembly because he purportedly holds an office-of-profit by obtaining a mining lease for stone chips in his name, the governor of Jharkhand requested the ECI’s view.

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Who is Hemant Soren?

Hemant Soren, the current Chief Minister of Jharkhand, was born in the Indian state of Jharkhand on August 10, 1975. 

He was the Chief Minister of Jharkhand from July 2013 to December 2014. He is also the leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, a political party. In the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly, he represents the Barhait constituency.

He was born to Roopi and Shibu Soren (former Chief Minister of Jharkhand) in Nemara in the Ramgarh district of Bihar (now in Jharkhand). Hemant has a sister and two brothers. He graduated with an intermediate degree from Patna High School in Patna, Bihar. According to an affidavit submitted to the Election Commission, Hemant enrolled in BIT Mesra, Ranchi to study mechanical engineering but later withdrew.

He served in the Rajya Sabha from June 24, 2009 to January 4, 2010. On December 23, 2009, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly (MLA), kicking off his political career. Later, from 11 September 2010 to 8 January 2013, he served as Jharkhand’s deputy Chief Minister.

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On July 15, 2013, he was sworn in as Chief Minister of Jharkhand after President’s control was lifted in the state, with Congress and RJD backing. He was re-elected as Chief Minister of Jharkhand in December 2019 and took office on December 29.

In 2016, the Jharkhand BJP government attempted to amend the Chhota Nagpur Tenancy Act and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act to allow owners and tenants of Adivasi land to use it for non-agricultural purposes, and the other to allow transfer of Adivasi land for the construction of roads, canals, educational institutions, hospitals, and other “government purposes.” This sparked massive protests in the state, and Hemant strongly opposed the amendments.

Soren requested a CBI investigation into the hunger death of Santoshi Kumari, an 11-year-old girl from Simdega, whose family had not received rations since July because their Aadhaar number was not linked to their bank account. Soren also demanded that Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma be held accountable for issuing a video-conferencing order erasing the names of families whose ration cards were not linked to their Aadhaar numbers.

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After the JMM, INC, and RJD coalition won the 2019 Jharkhand Legislative Assembly election, Hemant Soren, Congress leaders Alamgir Alam and Rameshwar Oraon, and lone RJD legislator Satyanand Bhokta, were sworn in as the state’s Chief Minister on December 29, 2019. The Chief Minister Hemant Soren was accused of breaking the law by giving himself a mining lease, and the Election Commission has forwarded its opinion to Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais.

Soren received the Champions of Change Award in 2019 for his outstanding work on behalf of the Dumka and Barhait constituency in the state of Jharkhand. Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented the award on January 20, 2020, at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi. Soren and his wife Kalpana have two sons. Basant Soren, his younger brother, and Anjali, his sister, are his siblings. He is a devoted follower of Birsa Munda, a nineteenth-century tribal warrior who inspires him with his bravery and valour.