Hemant Soren
Hemant Soren
Born/Date of Birth: 10 August 1975
Place of Birth: Nemra, Bihar, India
(now in Jharkhand, India)
Education: Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra
Parents: Shibu Soren, Roopi Soren
Political party: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
Spouse(s): Kalpana Soren
Relations: Shibu Soren (father)
Early life
Soren was born in Nemara in Ramgarh district, Jharkhand to Roopi and Shibu Soren, former Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Hemant has two brothers and a sister. His educational qualification is Intermediate from Patna High School, Patna. As per affidavit filed before Election Commission, Hemant enrolled in BIT Mesra, Ranchi in Mechanical Engineering, but failed to complete the course.
Career
He was a member of Rajya Sabha from 24 June 2009 to 4 January 2010. He started his political career as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) on 23rd December 2009. Later on, he became Jharkhand deputy CM on 11th September 2010 till 8th January 2013.
As Chief Minister
He was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand on 15 July 2013 with support from Congress and RJD after President's rule was removed from the state. He is again elected as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand on 29th December 2019.
As Leader of Opposition
In 2016, the BJP government in Jharkhand tried amending the Chhota Nagpur Tenancy Act and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act which would allow owners and tenants of Adivasi land to use it for non-agricultural purposes and the other would allow transfer of Adivasi land for building roads, canals, educational institutions, hospitals, and other "government purposes". This led to huge protests in the state and Hemant had strongly protested against these amendments.
CM Raghubar Das had invited Hemant to the Global Investors Summit in 2017, but Hemant called the summit a "maha chintan shivir of land grabbers" and claimed that it is being organised to loot the land of Adivasis, Moolvasis and the farmers of the state.
In October 2017, he had demanded a CBI inquiry into the death of 11-year-old girl Santoshi Kumari who allegedly died of starvation in Simdega as the family was not given ration since July for not having Aadhaar number seeded to their bank account. Soren also demanded action against Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma, who, he said, had passed an order through video conferencing to remove the names of the families having not linked their Ration Cards with their Aadhaar number.
He has been a vocal protester of the Direct Benefit Transfer in PDS and recently, voiced his concerns on how the scheme has caused tremendous suffering and injustice. In April 2018, a JMM delegation led by Hemant Soren and his father Shibu Soren met the Hon'ble President Ramnath Kovind registering a strong protest on the dilution of the SC/ST by the Supreme Court and proposed amendments to the LARR Bill by the Jharkhand government
In March 2018, Hemant Soren met Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao regarding a possible non-Congress and non-BJP front should be formed in the country. However, he also attended a dinner hosted by UPA Chaiperson Sonia Gandhi where the agenda was to discuss a broader front against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead of the 2019 general elections.
He supports the call for banning liquor in Jharkhand on the footsteps of Bihar. In response to the entry of liquor retail outlets in the state, he said “Now government will open liquor outlets in villages, which will ultimately impact the lives of poor tribals in Jharkhand. I appeal to the rural residents of the state to not allow liquor outlets in their villages.” He added womens organizations would have to come forward to launch a struggle against government’s liquor campaign.
Chief Minister 2019-
On December 29, 2019, following the victory of the JMM, INC, RJD coalition, Hemant Soren was sworn in as Chief Minister of Jharkhand alongside Congress leaders Alamgir Alam and Rameshwar Oraon, and lone RJD legislator Satyanand Bhokta.
Awards & Honors
Hemant Soren was awarded Champions of Change Award in 2019, for his exceptional work for Dumka and Barhait constituency in the state of Jharkhand. The award was conferred by Shri Pranab Mukherjee at Vigyan Bhavan New Delhi on 20th January 2020.
Personal life
Hemant Soren is married to Kalpana Soren and has two sons. He has a younger brother, Basant Soren, and a sister, Anjali. He is an ardent follower of Birsa Munda, the nineteenth century tribal warrior, and takes inspiration from his courage and valour.
