Union ministers, J'khand Guv, Speaker, MLAs pay tributes to Shibu Soren on assembly premises

Ranchi: Union ministers Jual Oram, Annapurna Devi and Sanjay Seth, Jharkhand Governor Santosh Gangwar and Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahato on Tuesday paid tributes to veteran tribal leader and JMM co-founder Shibu Soren, whose mortal remains were brought to the assembly. The hearse carrying the mortal remains of Shibu Soren reached the assembly premises around 10.30 am. Clad in a white Kurta-pyjama and a tribal 'gamcha' (towel), Chief Minister Hemant Soren accompanied his father.

Oram, the Union tribal affairs minister, said, "I have come here to bid farewell to Guruji. He has been an inspiration to the masses. I will follow his path." Devi said Jharkhand is "facing a vacuum now which will not be filled". "His journey from Shibu Soren to 'Dishom Guru' ( leader of the land) will continue to inspire people," she said. Governor Gangwar expressed deep condolences on the demise of Shibu Soren and laid a wreath on his mortal remains on the Jharkhand assembly premises. "The life of 'Dishom Guru' Shibu Soren Ji has been dedicated to tribal identity, rights and social uplift. He was a symbol of public service and struggle. Under his leadership, the consciousness and empowerment of the tribal society got a new direction," Gangwar said, paying tributes to the veteran JMM leader. The governor said that Jharkhand will always remember Shibu Soren with respect and pride, and added that his contribution to political, social and cultural fields will remain unforgettable.

BJP legislator Raj Sinha said Shibu Soren has been a "guide and mentor", and the void created by his demise can never be filled. Senior Congress leader and former state president of the party, Rajesh Thakur, said, "We have lost Jharkhand's creator. His contribution to the state can never be forgotten." Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, state ministers Irfan Ansari, Dipika Pandey Singh, Shilpi Neha Tirkey and many legislators, cutting across party lines, offered tributes to the departed soul on the assembly premises. Several bureaucrats, including Director General of Police Anurag Gupta, Principal Secretary to CM Avinash Kumar, were seen in the assembly complex paying their tributes to the tribal leader. A large number of people and JMM workers came to the assembly to pay their last respects to the veteran leader, and raised slogans 'Guruji Amar Rahe (Long live Guruji)'. Former Jharkhand chief minister and BJP leader Champai Soren, who was a close aide of Shibu Soren when he was with JMM, broke down at the latter's residence while paying tribute to him. Champai Soren crossed over from JMM and joined the BJP in August 2024. The mortal remains of the tribal leader will be laid to rest with full state honours at his ancestral village Nemra in Ramgarh district, around 70 km from the state's capital Ranchi, on Tuesday. Guruji, as Shibu Soren was popularly known, breathed his last at a private hospital in Delhi on Monday. He was 81. Soren, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha co-founder, was undergoing treatment at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi for over a month for kidney-related ailments