By Nityanand Shukla, IANS,
Ranchi : As he prepares to rule Jharkhand for the third time, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren will hope he does not land into trouble again.
Soren first took over as the state’s chief minister after the March 2005 assembly elections despite the numbers being against him. He had to step down within ten days as he could not prove his majority in the assembly.
He next became chief minister of the state Aug 27, 2008, though he was not a member of the state assembly. This proved to be his undoing as he lost the Tamar assembly bypoll in January, and had to step down as he could not meet the constitutional requirement of becoming a member of the state legislature within six months.
This time around Soren’s party won 18 seats in the 81-member assembly. He Saturday staked claim to forming the government with the support of Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) 18 members, the All Jharkhand Students Union’s (AJSU) five, the Janata Dal-United’s (JD-U) two and two independents. This gives Soren 45 members – four more than required for a majority.
Soren, currently a Lok Sabha MP, now needs to get elected to the state assembly within the stipulated time.
Soren’s record in power as a minister in the central government is equally chequered. He became a minister in the Manmohan Singh government in May 2004 when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power. He, however, had to quit two months later as a warrant against him in the 1975 Chirudih massacre case resurfaced.
He went into hiding but had to surrender in the Jamtara district court following a Jharkhand High Court directive and remained in jail for two months.
Guruji, as Soren is known by his supporters, was again given a berth in the central ministry in October 2004. He quit in March 2005 to become chief minister of Jharkhand for the first time but was in power for less then 10 days.
Soren returned to the central cabinet in 2006, and also became chairperson of Jharkhand UPA when Madhu Koda became chief minister in September 2006.
However, Soren was again forced to resign in October 2006 after he was convicted and awarded life term for the murder of his personal secretary Shashinath Jha.
The Delhi High Court acquitted him in the Jha murder case in 2007, and he was also acquitted in the Chirudih massacre case. But there is one more murder case pending against him in the Giridih district court.
Soren’s next opportunity came when the Left parties withdrew support to the UPA government, reducing it to minority and necessitating a trust vote. In the July 22, 2008 confidence motion, JMM supported the Manmohan Singh government and soon, Soren took over as Jharkhand chief minister for the second time in August 2008.
In the 2009 general elections, the JMM was reduced to two seats. Soren won but was denied a cabinet berth in Manmohan Singh government.
The JMM had fought the 2009 assembly polls alone and Soren sought the chief minister’s post for himself from any party who wanted his support.
This time, with the BJP and AJSU’s backing and independent legislators making up the necessary numbers, Soren should not have any trouble in completing the term. However, his supporters will be keeping their fingers crossed.