Jharkhand’s former Chief Minister Shibu Soren died on Monday at the age of 81.

He was admitted to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi for more than a month and was undergoing treatment for kidney-related ailments.

Soren was the leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha for 38 years and is recognised as the party's founding patron.

President Droupadi Murmu said Shibu Soren’s death marked a “big loss in the space of social justice”.

“He championed the cause of tribal identity and formation of the state of Jharkhand,” she wrote on social media. “His emphasis on the welfare of the people, especially the tribal communities, will always be remembered.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences and said that Shibu Soren was a “grassroots leader who rose through the ranks of public life with unwavering dedication to the people”.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed his condolences to the family of Shibu Soren and said that he “struggled for decades for the rights and empowerment of the tribal community in Jharkhand”.

“With his simple personality and humble nature, he connected with the masses,” Shah added.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said Shibu Soren had “dedicated his life to the struggle for a separate Jharkhand state and the rights of its people over water, forest, and land, as well as the preservation of tribal culture”.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said Shibu Soren was “a strong voice for the tribal community” who “fought tirelessly for their rights and entitlements”.

“His role in the formation of Jharkhand will always be remembered,” the Congress leader said.

His party colleague Jairam Ramesh described Shibu Soren as “the pivotal figure in the movement that led to the creation of Jharkhand exactly 25 years ago”.

Odisha’s former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said he was saddened to hear about Shibu Soren’s passing.

“He was a prominent tribal leader and will be remembered for his dedication to fight for the rights of the tribal and marginalised people,” Patnaik said.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin called Soren “one of independent India’s most influential tribal leaders”.

Soren’s “life was defined by relentless resistance against exploitation and an unshakeable commitment to Social Justice”, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president added.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that a “chapter of Jharkhand’s history comes to an end today”.

Shibu Soren had emerged as an advocate of tribal land rights in the early 1970s, The Indian Express reported. A member of the Santhal Adivasi community, he co-founded the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in 1973.

Following the death of the then-party president Nirmal Mahto in 1987, Soren took over as the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief, a role he held until April, The Hindu reported.

Soren first contested the Lok Sabha elections in 1977 but was unsuccessful. He was elected from the Dumka seat in 1980 and went on to win seven more terms in the Lok Sabha. He also briefly served in the Rajya Sabha in 2002 and was appointed Union coal minister in Manmohan Singh’s United Progressive Alliance Government in 2004.

Soren served three short stints as the chief minister of Jharkhand – in March 2005 for 10 days, in 2008 for less than five months and from December 2009 to May 2010.

Since Jharkhand was formed in 2000, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has come to power five times, with a member of the Soren family serving as chief minister in each term.

In 2006, Soren was convicted by a Delhi court in the 1994 murder of his private secretary Shashi Nath Jha, but the Supreme Court acquitted him in 2018, upholding a Delhi High Court ruling.

In April, Shibu Soren stepped down as the party’s president due to health-related concerns and his son Hemant Soren was elected the party’s national president.