'Will not beg for compromise': Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren after being arrested by ED 

Hemant Soren, the youngest Chief Minister of Jharkhand at 38, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, marking another significant event in his eventful political career. Despite not being the first choice of his father and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) supremo Shibu Soren, Hemant was pushed into politics following the demise of his elder brother Durga in 2009. 

After his arrest, Soren shared a Hindi poem on social media platform X, vowing to fight and not beg for compromise. "Life is a great battle, I have fought every moment, I will fight every moment but I will not beg for compromise," Soren said in a post in Hindi on X. 

Born on August 10, 1975, in Nemra village near Hazaribag, Soren dropped out of the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra in Ranchi. A lover of badminton, bicycles and books, Soren has two children with his wife Kalpana. His political career began in 2009 as a Rajya Sabha member, and he later served as the Deputy Chief Minister in the BJP-led Arjun Munda government. 

After the collapse of the BJP-JMM government, he became the state's youngest Chief Minister in 2013 with the support of the Congress and the RJD. However, his first tenure as CM was short-lived, with the BJP seizing power in 2014. Soren then became the leader of the opposition. In 2016, he led a large protest against the BJP-led government's attempt to amend the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act and Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, which ultimately led to his return to power in 2019 with JMM winning 30 assembly seats. 

Despite challenges during his tenure as Chief Minister, Soren established himself as a strong voice for the state's dominant tribal community and focused on social welfare initiatives. However, in 2022, he faced potential disqualification as an MLA due to allegations of an illegally renewed mining lease. 

That same year, three Congress MLAs from the state were caught with nearly Rs 49 lakh in cash in neighbouring West Bengal, leading the Soren-led coalition to allege a BJP plot to topple the government. Soren, now 48, was arrested in a money laundering case linked to alleged land fraud after resigning as Chief Minister. Senior JMM leader Champai Soren has been named his successor.

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