Hemant Soren takes oath as Jharkhand chief minister for second time

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) party chief Hemant Soren took oath as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand for a second time on Sunday (December 29).

Governor Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office and secrecy to Soren at Mohrabadi Ground at 2 pm. Soren will be the 11th chief minister of the state.

The JMM-RJD-Congress combine had won 47 seats in the 81-member Assembly.

Congress legislature party leader Alamgir Alam, state Congress president Rameshwar Oraon, and RJD MLA Satyanand Bhokta are also taking oath today.

Jharkhand can have 12 cabinet members, including the CM. The rest of the cabinet members are likely to be sworn once the power-sharing formula between the coalition partners is finalised and after the legislators are administered the oath in the assembly, likely to be convened before January 5, claim news reports.

This is the first time that Soren will be succeeding the BJP’s Raghubar Das. Hemant Soren was known for bringing progressive policies like 50 per cent reservation in government jobs for women and he played a major role tackling the Maoist insurgency in Saranda, West Singhbhum through a mix of development initiatives and security measures.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel; Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray; Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot; Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath; Congress leader Rahul Gandhi; CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury; and CPI general secretary D. Raja, are attending.