 Union Coal Minister Shibu Soren (62) arrives at the Tees Hazari Court in New Delhi, yesterday. The court found Soren guilty of murdering his private secretary Shashi Nath Jha 12 years ago. Soren is embroiled in several other criminal cases. After the verdict, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked for Soren's resignationNEW DELHI: The UPA government boat may be rocking hard but it will not sink even if Union Coal Minister Shibu Soren goes behind bars after being pronounced guilty in the kidnapping and murder of his personal assistant Shashi Nath Jha, in 1994.
Sorens resignation from the Union Cabinet comes after a Delhi court held him guilty of kidnapping and murder.
The PMs office, in a bid to deflate the opposition demand of his ouster, promptly asked for Sorens resignation from the Union Cabinet.
The PM has sought Sorens resignation, Manmohan Singhs media adviser, Sanjaya Baru, said. Sorens 17-member legislature party is part of the Madhu Koda-led state government, which has got a majority of one member.
BJP leader Arjun Munda plans to attack the state government as Soren, chairman of the UPAs steering committee in Jharkhand, played a vital role in snatching the chief ministers chair from him.
Soren went into hiding after summons were issued to him in the Chirudi murder case in Jamtara in 1975, which cost him the portfolio of union coal minister in 2004.
But Soren staged a comeback and occupied the same portfolio.
The UPA government has a comfortable majority with the backing of Left.
The JMM has only five MPs who are a part of the UPA alliance. The rise and fall of shibu soren
1944: Shibu Soren born on 11 January in Nemra village of Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand
1975: Leads a mob that killed 10 people in that attacked the Muslim-dominated Chirudi village in Jamtara district of Jharkhand
1980: Wins his first Lok Sabha election
1993: Shibu Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) votes against a no-confidence motion in parliament to save the Narasimha Rao government allegedly for a price
May 1994: Sorens personal assistant Shashi Nath Jha, who apparently knew about the bribes, reported missing
1998: Jha's skeleton exhumed, CBI files chargesheet against Soren
2004: Soren joins Manmohan Singh government as coal minister
July 2004: Soren resigns after an arrest warrant in a mass killing case is issued against him
Nov 2006: Convicted for abduction and murder of Jha
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