Hemant Soren

Hemant Soren
5th Chief Minister of Jharkhand
Incumbent
Assumed office 29 December 2019
Governor	Draupadi Murmu Ramesh Bais
Preceded by	Raghubar Das
In office 13 July 2013 – 28 December 2014
Governor	Syed Ahmed
Preceded by	President's rule
Succeeded by	Raghubar Das
Leader of the Opposition, Jharkhand Legislative Assembly
In office 7 January 2015 – 28 December 2019
Governor	Syed Ahmed Draupadi Murmu
Chief Minister	Raghubar Das
Preceded by	Arjun Munda
Succeeded by	Babulal Marandi
President of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 July 2013
Preceded by	Shibu Soren
Deputy Chief Minister of Jharkhand
In office 11 September 2010 – 18 January 2013 Serving with Sudesh Mahto
Governor	M. O. H. Farook Syed Ahmed
Chief Minister	Arjun Munda
Preceded by	President's rule
Succeeded by	President's rule
Member of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 2014
Preceded by	Hemlal Murmu
Constituency	Barhait
In office 23 December 2019 – 6 January 2020
Preceded by	Louis Marandi
Succeeded by	Basant Soren
Constituency	Dumka
In office 2009–2014
Preceded by	Stephen Marandi
Succeeded by	Louis Marandi
Constituency	Dumka
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office 24 June 2009 – 7 July 2010
Constituency	Jharkhand
Personal details
Born	(1975-08-10) 10 August 1975 Nemara, Ramgarh, Bihar (now in Jharkhand) India
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Jharkhand Mukti Morcha /United Progressive Alliance
Spouse(s)	Kalpana Soren
Relations	Basant Soren (Brother)
Children	2
Parent(s)	Shibu Soren (father)
Website	cm.jharkhand.gov.in

Hemant Soren (born 10 August 1975) is an Indian politician from Jharkhand, who is the current Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Previously, he had also served as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand from July 2013 to December 2014. He is also the president of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, a political party in Jharkhand. He represents Barhait constituency in the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly.

Early life

Soren was born in Nemara in Ramgarh district, Bihar (now in 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, Bihar. As per affidavit filed before Election Commission, Hemant enrolled in BIT Mesra, Ranchi in Mechanical Engineering, but dropped out.

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 23 December 2009. Later on, he became Jharkhand deputy CM on 11 September 2010 till 8 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 was again elected as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand in December 2019, and sworn in on 29 December.

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 women's organizations would have to come forward to launch a struggle against government's liquor campaign.

Chief Minister 2019–

On 29 December 2019, following the victory of the JMM, INC, RJD coalition in 2019 Jharkhand Legislative Assembly election, 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 and honors

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 20 January 2020.

Personal life

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.