Hemant Soren sworn-in as 11th Chief Minister of Jharkhand

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Hemant Soren on Sunday took oath as the 11th chief minister of Jharkhand as top opposition leaders turned up at the swearing-in ceremony in state capital Ranchi in a show of unity.

Governor Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office and secrecy to Hemant Soren as people shouted slogans of “Jai Jharkhand”.

The RJD’s Satyanand Bhogta and Congress’ Jharkhand unit chief Rameshwar Oraon also took oath as state ministers.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the DMK’s MK Stalin, Nationalist Congress Party’s Supriya Sule, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) Sanjay Singh were among those present at the ceremony in Ranchi’s Morabadi area.

So were West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot.

Their presence on a common stage gains significance in the context of protests that have taken place against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the resistance that opposition parties have put up against moves by the Centre to implement them.

Hemant Soren appealed to the state’s people to attend the swearing-in ceremony in large numbers and “witness the historic moment”.

“I am extremely grateful for the clear majority that you people gave to our alliance. I understand your expectations from the new government. I want to invite all of you to the oath ceremony,” he tweeted in the morning along with a video.

Hours ahead of the oath-taking ceremony, Maoists allegedly blew up a community centre in Khunti district.

The JMM’s working president Hemant Soren would lead the coalition government with the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) as partners.

The JMM emerged as the largest party winning 30 seats, followed by the Congress with 16 seats and RJD one—giving a clear majority for the opposition alliance in the 81-member Jharkhand assembly.

Soren would send the list of his cabinet colleagues to Raj Bhawan by Sunday evening. 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.