Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief, Hemant Soren, takes oath as the 11th chief minister of Jharkhand on Sunday after marking victory in the recently concluded Assembly elections with the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance winning 47 seats in the 81-seat assembly.

The oath was administered by Governor Droupadi Murmu at Morabadi ground, Ranchi.

Advertisement

The 44-year-old Soren’s swearing-in ceremony was witnessed by a spectrum of opposition leaders from different states.

Hemant Soren was accompanied by his father and former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Shibu Soren and other family members to the ceremony.

मुख्यमंत्री नामित श्री @HemantSorenJMM अपने पिता श्री शिबू सोरेन व परिवार के साथ पहुंचे मोरहाबादी स्थित शपथ ग्रहण समारोह स्थल। कुछ देर में झारखण्ड के मुख्यमंत्री पद की लेंगे शपथ। pic.twitter.com/IlMoUdtvf0

— IPRD Jharkhand (@prdjharkhand) December 29, 2019

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, DMK president MK Stalin, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, Former MP Sharad Yadav, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, and AAP leader Sanjay Singh attended the oath-taking ceremony.

Among the invitees for the event were Prime Minister Narendra Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, former President Pranab Mukherjee, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Various leaders including AAP leader and Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, former President Pranab Mukherjee and former MP Pappu Yadav among others extended their wishes for Soren on his oath-taking ceremony.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi extended his wishes for Soren on Twitter as well and said, “I’m confident that the new Govt in Jharkhand will work for the benefit of all citizens and usher in an era of peace & prosperity in the state.”

Earlier in the day, Soren took to Twitter to attack the central government on the issue of CAA and NRC which has triggered nationwide protests.

” I don’t think NRC is feasible or implementable. The entire country is up in arms against CAA. This is happening while our country is going through an economic crisis. We can’t make people stand in queue again like the way it happened during demonetisation,” Soren said.

Attacking the government on police action on the protesters, he said, “Many people lost their lives. What’s the need of such acts? Who will take responsibility for the lives lost? Even in these protests, the government is quelling dissent through police force. This is not democracy, it’s something else.”

This is the second stint of Soren as Jharkhand chief minister. From 2009 to 2013, Hemant Soren took the charge of Deputy Chief Minister with Arjun Munda as Chief Minister when the party supported BJP in the state.

In January 2013, the central rule was imposed in the state after the JMM withdrew its support. Later in July, Hemant Soren took oath as the Chief Minister at the age of 38 years.

In the 2014 Assembly elections, the BJP came back in power with Raghubar Das as Chief Minister.

In the 2019 elections, the JMM stitched up an alliance with the Congress and RJD.

The centre-led BJP lost the Jharkhand in less than seven months after marking a remarkable victory in the Lok Sabha election. BJP was swept out of power by the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance bagging 47 seats in the 81-seat assembly with the majority mark of 41 seats. BJP managed to get 25 seats, making it the number two party in the state.

JMM won 30, Congress 16, RJD 1, NCP 1, Independents 2 JVM (P) 3, CPI (M-L) (L) 1, BJP 25 and AJSU 2. In last election, BJP and AJSU had contested in alliance but decided to breakup before polls after a tussle over seat sharing.