When Sibu Soren, the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, was defeated on January 9 by-election in the Tamar assembly constituency by a mediocre name in politics – Gopal Krishan Patar alias Raja Peter of the Jharkhand Party – by a comfortable margin of over 9,000 votes, history was created in addition to clear disliking for man who claimed to get the credit for the birth of Jharkhand.
On the constitutional and moral ground, he must resign from the post immediately that he had held since August 2008. Crime and corruption has been part and parcel of his tumultuous political career. Now this humiliating defeat has come as shocking setback for Soren who considers it legitimate to rule Jharkhand. This verdict is for his notoriety that has gained during the 30 years, and it reminds us of his first Lok Sabha defeat in 1977.
Soren’s political career has been mired with controversies and tumults: only last year, he had to resign as the Union Minister for Coal after Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh asked for it in the wake of the court’s verdict in a murder case. Incidentally, it was the first case of a Union minister being found guilty of involvement in a murder cases and asked to step down henceforth. On November 28, 2006, Soren was found guilty of murder of his former personal secretary Shashinath Jha.
However, his first act that hogged the limelight was JMM bribery case during the Narasimha Rao government during the July 1993 no-confidence motion. Since Jha was aware of the illegal transactions and perhaps was asking for a substantial share, he was eliminated.
However, the Delhi High Court on Aug 23, 2007 overruled the Dumka district court’s order and acquitted Soren. Though exonerated of murder in the Jha casa, there is a heart-felt belief in Jharkhand that he is the culprit, and that due to week presentation of charge sheet by the CBI he was acquitted.
Long before, the biggest crime committed by Soren was on January 23, 1975, when he was allegedly part of a mob that attacked the Muslim-dominated Chirudih village in Jamtara district in a campaign to drive away “outsiders”, a term used to describe non-tribal. About a dozen people, including nine Muslims, were killed in the attack.
Along with 68 others, Soren was charged with murder. In 1986, an arrest warrant was issued against him in the case but his political clouts in Delhi saved him.
It was repeated in 2004 when he was in the Manmohan Singh cabinet. In Ranchi and adjoining areas, there is tacit consent among people that Soren is a gangster leading an army of criminals as sycophants and stooges, and political intimidation has been an act whereby he has tried to gain power.
In Indian politics, we don’t have too many instances of a chief minister winning the trust vote but losing his own election thereafter. But why did Soren lose the election by a margin of over 9000 votes? Well, the answer is as simple as day: his unsavoury political track record.
For most part of his life during the last 10 years, Soren has been wrestling with court cases, turning fugitive, going underground and seeing entries and exits from the Union Council of Ministers.
However, one notable act was that he forced the exit of Chief Minister Madhu Koda by threatening to topple his Ministry. Soren's career record speaks volumes of his criminal acts that people in India have started noticing more passionately. Soren’s defeat is an indication that stature does not count and people will not tolerate men with criminal records.
