JMM's Hemant Soren to take oath as Jharkhand CM on Dec 29

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s (JMM) Hemant Soren on Tuesday staked claim to form the government and said he will take oath as the chief minister of Jharkhand on December 29.

Earlier, Hemant Soren, who is the JMM’s working president and chief ministerial face of the grand alliance, was elected the Leader of the House.

Congress Legislature Party Leader elect Alamgir Alam proposed his name and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejaswi Yadav and Congress’ general secretary in charge of Jharkhand RPN Singh supported it.

Soon after, Hemant Soren along with the elected legislators of the JMM, Congress and RJD and a battery of leaders met Governor Draupadi Murmu at Raj Bhawan and staked the claim to form a government. He also submitted the list of supporting parties and MLAs.

“I have presented the list to the Governor Draupadi Murmu signed by 50 legislators supporting my government and pleaded her to permit me to form the government,” said Hemant Soren after staking claim.

He said the swearing-in ceremony will take place on December 29. He added that the letters of the supporting parties – Congress, RJD and JVM (P) have also been submitted.

Congress Legislature Party leader, Alamgir Alam, RPN Singh, Yadav were among the others present with him.

This will be the 44-year-old Hemant Soren’s second term in office. He had helmed the eastern state for the first time in July 2013 till December 2014. His father Shibu Soren has also been the chief minister of the state for three terms.

Hemant Soren may go to Delhi on Wednesday or Thursday to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party leader Rahul Gandhi and to invite them in the swearing-in ceremony.

A few chief ministers of Congress-ruled state might also take part in the ceremony, AICC general secretary RPN Singh said.

The swearing-in ceremony would be followed by the election of a protem speaker to administer the oath to the newly-elected members and full-time speaker.

Current Speaker Dinesh Oraon, who lost the election, tendered his resignation from the post.

The newly-elected JMM legislators met at party president Shibu Soren’s residence in the afternoon and put the seal on Hemant Soren’s candidature as their leader.

The party MLAs also sought senior Soren’s blessings and assured him they will play a constructive role in shaping his dream Jharkhand that would be free from oppression, coercion and plead to protect the water, forest cover and land.

Soon after, Hemant Soren met JVM(P) chief Babulal Marandi at his residence seeking his blessings and sought his cooperation.

“It was his modesty despite getting clear majority after steering election campaigns for the alliance and I have extended him my unconditional support for a new beginning and usher Jharkhand as per people’s expectations,” Babulal Marandi said after the meeting.

This extended the bench strength of the treasury bench to 50—JMM’s 30, Congress’ 16, RJD’s 1 and three of the JVM (P).

Hemant Soren also met Ranchi Archbishop Felix Toppo and extended Christmas greetings in the evening before submitting the claim to form the government.

“We discussed few key areas to be touched upon to improve the life in the state and sought Archbishop’s guidance,” he said after the meeting.

The JMM-led alliance registered an impressive victory in the assembly election winning 47 seats, six more than the halfway mark. The JMM won 30 seats, Congress bagged 16 and the RJD one—22 more than what these parties won in 2014. The JMM contested the last assembly polls alone.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 25 seats, the AJSU Party two, the JVM (P) three and others four.

Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000 after a decades-long struggle for a separate tribal homeland.

Since then, the state always had a tribal chief minister, but after the 2014 general election, the BJP bucked the trend by picking Raghubar Das — a non-tribal, other backward class (OBC) face — as the chief minister.