RANCHI, DECEMBER 29 (PTI): JMM Executive President Hemant Soren on Sunday became 11th Chief Minister of Jharkhand after taking oath of office and secrecy with his 3 other Cabinet colleagues. Governor Droupadi Murmu administered oath of office and secrecy to Soren in the presence of senior political leaders and Chief Ministers from across the Country.
This is Hemant Soren’s second stint as Chief Minister of Jharkhand after became Chief Minister for the first time with the help of Congress and RJD in July, 2013, remaining in power for one and a half years.
State Congress President Rameshwar Oraon, senior Congress leader Alamgir Alam and RJD MLA from Chatra Satyanand Bhokta were the three ministers who were also administered oath of office and secrecy along with Soren.
The grand ceremony was witnessed by former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejaswi Yadav of RJD, CPI General Secretary D Raja, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and several other leaders of non-BJP parties. Former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi awere also present during the occasion.
Soren's predecessor Raghubar Das also attended the swearing-in ceremony.
The event also marked a grand showcase of the emerging unity of anti-Narendra Modi forces in the Country as leaders of almost every political party in UPA fold were present in the swearing-in ceremony of Soren. More than 20, 000 supporters of JMM, Congress and RJD thronged on to witness the historical moment at Morhabadi Maidaan in Ranchi.
The JMM led Congress-RJD alliance stormed to power on December 23, ousting the Raghubar Das government in Jharkhand after BJP’s stupendous performance in Lok Sabha elections.
The alliance bagged 47 seats in the 81-member state Assembly — JMM won 30 seats, Congress 16 and the RJD one. JVM chief Babulal Marandi, too, extended his support to the coalition along with his two MLAs, taking the total count to 50 in the Assembly.
In the recently conducted Jharkhand Legislative Assembly elections, the JMM, Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance triumphed over the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), winning 47 seats in the 81-member assembly.
Moreover, four other MLAs - three from the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) [JVM(P] and one from the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) [CPI(ML)] - also lent their support to the alliance, pushing up the total support from legislators to more than 50. This is being considered a first for Jharkhand - where a government having the support of more than 50 legislators was formed in the state.
