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Opinion

Shibu Soren — the man who helped save economic reforms in India

Had the JMM, led by Soren, not sided with the Rao government, the government would have fallen.

News Arena Network - Chandigarh - UPDATED: August 4, 2025, 04:58 PM - 2 min read

Shibu Soren, the tribal leader who founded the JMM, leaves behind a legacy that reshaped the country's politics.


Three-time Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Shibu Soren, who passed away today, once proved to be the “saviour” of the economic reforms that had been introduced by the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao in 1991. Had his party’s four MPs not supported the Rao government during the ‘vote of no confidence’ (for whatever reasons), the government would have fallen and so would have the much cherished economic reforms which heralded a paradigm shift in the country's economic progress.

 

If India’s economy is among the fastest-growing economies in the world today, it is because of those reforms introduced by Rao through his legendary economist Finance Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who later became the Prime Minister of the country and served two full terms from 2004 to 2014.

 

The 1991 General Elections threw up a hung Parliament. The country had lost a former, and possibly a future Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi in a suicide bomb attack by the LTTE terrorists. The Congress could manage to win 232 seats only. Later, the Congress won 12 more seats from Punjab, where elections were held little later because of militancy.

 

Narasimha Rao became the Prime Minister and he appointed Dr Manmohan Singh as his Finance Minister. Country’s economic situation was in doldrums. The outgoing government had pledged the gold reserves to the World Bank. There was pressure from the WB and International Monetary Fund on Rao to appoint some economist as his Finance Minister and initiate reforms. While Rao initially offered the job to IG Patel, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India who that time was teaching in London School of Economics, he declined but suggested Dr Singh, who was also a former RBI Governor and serving as the Chairman of the University Grants Commission. Dr Singh accepted the offer and the rest is history.

 

Rao enjoyed a very cordial equation with the BJP veteran Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was the Leader of Opposition that time. The BJP had 120 MPs in the Lok Sabha. When Rao initiated reforms, he took Vajpayee into confidence. The BJP’s economic policies were already pro-reform. The party did not have any problem in supporting liberalisation. Rao had personally requested Vajpayee for support, which he willingly did and the reforms started moving forward.

 

The communist parties like the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) with some splinter groups had about 60 MPs between them. The Janta Dal, a left of centre conglomerate, had about 60 members. They were all strongly opposed to the reforms. The BJP acted not only as a buffer but also as a cushion for the Rao government.

 

Also read: Shibu Soren, ex-Jharkhand CM and JMM chief, dies at 81

 

However, the situation changed after December 6, 1992. The ‘Babri Masjid’ in Ayodhya was demolished by the ‘karsevaks’ (volunteers) who had been mobilised in lakhs of numbers by the BJP. This led to the dismissal of three BJP governments of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. This caused bitterness and acrimony between the Congress and the BJP. RSS was also banned following the demolition. Although Rao was seen to be soft towards the BJP, the demolition of the ‘mosque’ left no choice for him but to act against the RSS and some other Hindu organisations, besides dismissing the BJP governments in three states.

 

The left parties, as also the Janta Dal, were waiting for an opportunity to derail the reforms and they seized it. Realising that the initial bonhomie between the Congress and the BJP had gone, the left parties decided to bring in a vote of no confidence against the Rao government. Despite being ideologically on two opposite, rather hostile extremes, the BJP and the left parties came together against the government.

 

Rao did not have the numbers. Most of the 542 MPs were already regimented. There was a strong chance of the government falling short of majority and losing the vote of confidence. The BJP had already taken a clear stand that it will vote in favour of the ‘vote of no confidence’. For a while, the fall of the Rao government looked imminent.

 

But Rao was not the man to give up so easily. He activated all his cells. Some of his closest colleagues, like Bhajan Lal, the then Haryana Chief Minister, late Satpal Mittal, a Rajya Sabha MP and the father of Sunil Mittal, the founder Chairman of the Bharti Airtel and few others were pressed into service.

 

Jhakhand Mukti Morcha had six MPs. Two MPs rebelled against party leader Shibu Soren. The JMM decided to support the government. Later, it was revealed that the Congress had allegedly bribed the JMM leader Shibu Soren, who faced corruption charges for a long time. Although he could not be jailed for the immunity the MPs enjoyed, he was later first convicted by a trial court in the murder of his private secretary, who allegedly sought share from the bribe, but later acquitted.

 

Late Ajit Singh, son of former Prime Minister Charan Singh, had also parted ways with the Janta Dal. He had about 20 MPs with him. He also extended support to the Rao government. But even then, if the entire house voted, Rao would have fallen short of the majority mark to defeat the ‘vote of no confidence’. It was here that the support of four JMM MPs was crucial and they sided with the government during the ‘vote of no confidence’. The government survived with 251 votes polling in favour of the no confidence motion and 265 in support. Had the government lost the vote of confidence, it would have led to its fall and derailing of the reforms.

 

Had the JMM, led by Soren not sided with the government, the country might well have been pushed again towards economic and political instability. While it was indeed the characteristic deft handling by Rao and his team, credit also goes to Soren for being the facilitator of the survival of the government and consequently economic reforms, which put the country on the path of modern economic development. Had Soren voted differently, possibly the country might have taken a different political and economic course.

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