Shibu Soren sworn in for third time as Jharkhand chief minister

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren took oath on Wednesday to become the seventh chief minister of Jharkhand. According to party officials, earlier the oath ceremony was scheduled at 02:00 pm but later on advice of astrologers it was fixed at 10:30 am. The JMM claimed to have required strength for government with support from BJP and the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU). 
The tribal boss is third time lucky to become chief minister of the state in nine year short history of the state. Soren was at the helm for nine days in year 2005. He ruled for four months, from August 2008 to January 2009. Shibu Soren earlier faced charges of bribery and is still having two cases lodged against him for murder. Popularly known as 'Guruji', the JMM chief entered politics after battling for years against moneylenders who exploited members of his poor and largely impoverished tribal community.

Soren was born on Jan 11, 1944, in Nemra village of Hazaribagh district. His village is now known as Ramgarh district. Soren had to leave his education when his father was allegedly killed by thugs employed by moneylenders. He stood and raised his voice against moneylenders. At the age of 18, he constituted Santhal Navyuvak Sangh. In the late 1960s, he established an ashram at Tundi block in Dhanbad district. He also opposed outsiders the non tribals. In 1971, Soren was elected the general secretary of JMM. He was also elected for Lok Sabha in 1980. In 1986, he became the JMM president. He represented the Dumka Lok Sabha constituency in 1989, 1991, 1996, 2004 and 2009.
His popularity declined after he and three other Lok Sabha MPs were charged for taking bribes to vote in favour of the Congress government of P V Narasimha Rao in 1992. He had to face jail in the bribery case. In 2004, he became coal minister in the Manmohan Singh government but he was forced to quit  the cabinet in July 2004 after a warrant was issued against him in the Chirudih massacre. Soren again joined the cabinet in October 2004. He quit the cabinet to become Jharkhand CM but later stepped down after he was not able to prove his majority.