Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Hemant Soren on Thursday took oath as the chief minister of Jharkhand, a day after Champai Soren quit. Hemant was back at the helm of affairs after a five-month stint in jail in connection with a land scam case.

In a post on ‘X’, he said, “Thank you to his excellency the Governor. The end of the anti-democracy conspiracy hatched by the rivals has begun. Satyamev Jayate.”

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This morning, accompanied by INDIA bloc leaders, Soren arrived at the Raj Bhavan upon Governor CP Radhakrishnan’s invitation to establish the government in Jharkhand.

The Raj Bhavan released a statement declaring, “Hon’ble Governor Shri C P Radhakrishnan today invited Shri Hemant Soren to take the oath by appointing him as the chief minister-designate.”

Commenting on the resignation of Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren, BJP Rajya Sabha member Deepak Prakash criticized the move and said, “Again, there will be a government based on familism in Jharkhand. The people are asking if there will be another looting of mineral wealth in the state, if there will be liquor scams again, and if there will be more land scam stories.”

After taking oath Mr Soren said, “From 2019 the present ‘mahagathbandan’ government has done all the work as per interests of people here. During political ups and downs, Champai Soren took forward those initiatives… because I was in jail. (Now)… because of the court’s order, I could come out…”

The Chief Minister’s wife, Kalpana Soren, said he would “continue to work for (the) people… like he has always”, but fired a warning (of sorts) to the party ahead of a state election just months away. “… we have less time now,” she told the media.

“It is a blessing from people and our party workers. Following the high court’s decision, Hemant Soren is once again Jharkhand CM. Now, he will work even more for the people of Jharkhand as this time we have less time,” she added.

The state cabinet ministers will be sworn in on Sunday.

Before he took oath, Hemant posted a video message on X, in which he slammed “arrogant people intoxicated with power (a reference to the BJP) who tried to silence me”, and said, “Today, the public opinion of the people of Jharkhand will rise again. Jai Jharkhand, Jai Hind.”