Ranchi: Rupi Soren, whose quiet strength sustained JMM patriarch Shibu Soren, and mother of chief minister Hemant Soren, died of cardiopulmonary arrest at a city hospital on Wednesday evening. She was 75.Rupi breathed her last around 8:40 pm at Hill View Hospital, where she had been undergoing treatment since Sept 25 for breathing difficulties. Hospital manager (operations) Mohammad Wasim said her condition had worsened and she was placed on ventilator support on Wednesday.“She remained critical with multiple complications. She had been suffering from renal problems for several years and required dialysis,” Wasim said.Hemant visited the hospital daily and spent hours with his mother. The cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday was cancelled as her condition deteriorated. Several ministers also visited the hospital.For much of her life, Rupi remained away from the spotlight, but her role in the Soren household was central. She stood beside Shibu as he mobilised tribals and the rural poor, endured political reverses and helped sustain the family through the campaign for Jharkhand. They married in 1962 and had three sons and a daughter.Rupi briefly entered electoral politics herself. In the 1999 Lok Sabha election from Dumka, then in undivided Bihar, she contested against BJP’s Babulal Marandi. She lost by 4,648 votes — a narrow result that underscored the Soren family’s hold over the Santhal heartland.Her death comes a little over a year after Shibu Soren’s demise in Aug last year, leaving the family and Jharkhand to mourn again.Leader of opposition Babulal Marandi said, “The news of the passing of the mother of chief minister Hemant Soren ji has left me deeply distressed… May the Lord grant a place at His holy feet to the departed soul and bestow upon the grief-stricken family the strength to bear this immense sorrow.”Health minister Irfan Ansari said, “We tried our best to save her consulting with doctors but could not. It is a great loss not only to the family but for the state.”Her mortal remains were taken to Morabadi residence around 9:40 pm and will be taken to Nemra on Thursday for the last rites.
