Former Jharkhand CM Shibu Soren, grassroots leader who fought for separate tribal state, no more
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren Death News: Elected to Lok Sabha for the first time in 1980, Shibu Soren rose to national prominence through multiple terms in Parliament
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren. (File) 
Jharkhand’s former chief minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s founding patron, Shibu Soren, died at the age of 81 in New Delhi on Monday after having been bedridden for over a month due to illness.
Hemant Soren, the current Jharkhand Chief Minister and Shibu Soren’s son, announced the death, saying in a post on X: “Respected Dishom Guruji has left us all behind. Today, I feel completely empty…” Shibu Soren had popularly been known in Jharkhand as ‘Dishom Guruji’.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences.”Shri Shibu Soren Ji was a grassroots leader who rose through the ranks of public life with unwavering dedication to the people. He was particularly passionate about empowering tribal communities, the poor and downtrodden. Pained by his passing away. My thoughts are with his family and admirers. Spoke to Jharkhand CM Shri Hemant Soren Ji and expressed condolences. Om Shanti,” the PM said in a post on X.
Shibu Soren had been hospitalised for more than a month at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi due to kidney-related complications, after being airlifted to the national capital in the last week of June. He had since been under the supervision of both national and international medical experts.
आदरणीय दिशोम गुरुजी हम सभी को छोड़कर चले गए हैं।
आज मैं शून्य हो गया हूँ…
— Hemant Soren (@HemantSorenJMM) August 4, 2025
Born on January 11, 1944, near Ramgarh in present-day Jharkhand, Shibu Soren belonged to the Santhal Adivasi community. In the early 1970s, he rose as a tribal land rights activist and co-founded the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in 1973, with the aim of forming a separate tribal state from Bihar.
Elected to Lok Sabha for the first time in 1980, Shibu Soren rose to national prominence through multiple terms in Parliament. In 1987, he became the president of JMM, a position he held for nearly 38 years.
In April this year, at the JMM’s 13th Central Convention in Ranchi, the party formally amended its constitution to reflect a generational shift in leadership. Hemant Soren was elected as the new Central President, while Shibu Soren was named the ‘Founding Patron’.
Share
