Jharkhand's politics is hot. ED has arrested Hemant Soren in the land scam case. After the arrest of Hemant Soren, Champai Soren will become the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. There is a long history of cases against the Soren family and JMM. Since its establishment in Dhanbad on February 4, 1973, there have been several divisions in JMM and dozens of cases against its leaders. During the movement, dozens of leaders including Nirmal Mahato, who was once the president of JMM, also died. There were many occasions when it seemed that JMM would cease to exist, but JMM returned in the very next elections.
Shibu Soren was in danger of arrest even on the day of JMM's foundation.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was established under the supervision of Marxist thinker AK Roy, influenced by the Mukti Bahini of Bangladesh and the struggles of Vietnam. Roy wanted to make the Jharkhand region an ideal Marxist state. For this he had formed dozens of pressure groups. One of which was JMM. The command of JMM was given to Binod Bihari Mahato and Shibu Soren, leaders of two major population groups of Jharkhand. Binod Bihari Mahato was made the president and Shibu Soren was made the general secretary.
At the time of the establishment of JMM, AK Roy was a member of the Bihar Assembly and under his patronage, Shibu Soren was fighting against the moneylenders, i.e. the exploiters, in the forests of Tundi. There were many violent clashes during this fight. Due to which many cases were registered against Shibu Soren. On the day when the big rally for the establishment of JMM was held, there was apprehension about the arrest of Shibu Soren.
The government had arrested the leaders under MISA law
A few days after the establishment of JMM, citing law and order, the government arrested A.K. Roy, Binod Bihari Mahato were arrested and sent to jail. In 1974, when these leaders came out of jail, during the Emergency, AK Roy, Binod Bihari Mahato and Shibu Soren were once again arrested by the police.
During his stay in jail during the Emergency, Shibu Soren came in contact with the Congress and was released from jail very soon. A.K. Apart from Roy, all the leaders got bail.
Division took place for the first time in JMM
In the 1977 Lok Sabha elections, A.K. Roy won the election from jail itself. But meanwhile Shibu Soren became friends with Congress. There was a split in JMM under the leadership of Shibu Soren and Shibu contested the assembly elections. In which he was defeated. After the defeat in the assembly elections, Shibu left Tundi area and went to Santhal Pargana. One faction of JMM was active under the leadership of Binod Bihari Mahato and the other faction was under the leadership of Shibu Soren. Then in 1979, due to the efforts of AK Roy, both the groups were brought together on one platform.
But JMM, which was established as a pressure group, had by this time been established as a political party. In 1980, Shibu Soren became MP from Dumka.
Partition happened again in 1983
In 1983, Shibu Soren once again rebelled against Binod Bihari Mahato and formed a separate group. He was defeated in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections. After which, before the Bihar Assembly elections of 1985, A.K. Roy made a compromise between the two groups and many people including Shibu Soren reached Bihar Assembly after winning. Then JMM remained united for almost a decade.
JMM president and AJSU founder Nirmal Mahato was murdered in 1987.
After separating from Binod Bihari Mahato, Shibu Soren made Nirmal Mahato the president of the party. Nirmal Mahato was a flamboyant leader. However, he was shot dead on 8 August 1987 in front of Chamaria Guest House in Northern Town, Bistupur, Jamshedpur. After this incident there was heavy violence in Jamshedpur. Nirmal Mahato strengthened JMM in Kolhan region.
There was another split in JMM after 1991.
Binod Bihari Mahato died in 1991, just a few days after the Lok Sabha elections. After his death, his son Rajkishore Mahato became MP from Giridih. After the death of Binod Bihari Mahato, there was a split in JMM once again and his sons Rajkishore Mahato and Krishna Mardi rebelled. There was a major split in JMM and a new JMM Mardi was formed. After some time, leaders like Shibu Soren, Suraj Mandal, Shelendra Mahato got trapped in the MP bribery scandal. After which JMM got infamous across the country.
Shibu Soren had to go to jail several times due to MP bribery scandal.
Shibu Soren had to go to jail several times due to the MP bribery scandal. During this time A.K. His relations with Roy also almost ended. During his stay in jail, he also had to face defeat in his traditional seat Dumka.
BJP leader Babulal Marandi defeated him and his wife twice in the elections. During this time, his associate Shashinath Jha was also murdered, in which case also Shibu Soren had to go to jail.
Shibu Soren had absconded while he was a minister
In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, 5 JMM MPs reached Delhi after winning the elections. After a few days, a Delhi court convicted Shibu Soren in the Shashinath Jha murder case. After which Shibu Soren disappeared while still being a minister. Later he had to surrender. However, in later days he got relief from the court and came out of jail.
Had to leave the post of CM due to not being able to become MLA
After the removal of Madhu Koda's government, Shibu Soren became the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, but he was not an MLA at that time. He was to become MLA within 6 months. By-elections were to be held in Tamar Assembly. Shibu Soren contested the election from there but lost the election. Shibu Soren was defeated by independent candidate Raja Peter in the elections. King Peter was an unknown face. Later, King Peter also had to go to jail in a murder case. After the defeat, Shibu Soren had to leave the post of CM. Later, again with the support of BJP, Shibu Soren became the Chief Minister. But at that time he voted in support of Congress in Parliament. Angered by this, BJP withdrew support from his government. Once again Shibu Soren had to step down from the post of Chief Minister.
Hemant Soren had a spotless image
Hemant Soren became active in politics after the death of his elder brother Durga Soren. He did not take any significant part in the Jharkhand separate state movement. There were no cases or stains against Hemant Soren before becoming the Chief Minister for the second time. After taking command, Hemant Soren strengthened JMM in villages as well as cities. A strong IT cell of JMM was created. Many books were written on Shibu Soren. JMM started getting more space in newspapers across the country and the world. JMM got the biggest victory in history in the 2019 assembly elections. However, now once again JMM is in trouble. There is also a danger of a split in the party. In such a situation, it remains to be seen how this nearly 50 year old party makes a comeback.
Sachin Jha Shekhar is working in NDTV.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the author.
