Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) executive president Hemant Soren was sworn in as the 14th Chief Minister of Jharkhand on Thursday, in a grand ceremony at Morabadi Ground, Ranchi.
Soren took the oath of office, administered by Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar, in the presence of prominent leaders from the INDIA alliance, including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, AAP convener and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav.
Soren’s family, including his father and JMM President Shibu Soren, his mother Roopi Soren, and his wife Kalpana Soren, were also present on stage during the ceremony.
Other key figures at the event included Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Bihar Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, and AAP MPs Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha.
Soren made history by becoming the first politician to serve as Jharkhand’s chief minister for the fourth time. His JMM-led alliance secured a decisive two-thirds majority, winning 56 out of 81 seats in the assembly elections held in two phases on November 13 and 20.
Since Jharkhand was carved out from Bihar in 2000, the state has seen seven Chief Ministers, including Babulal Marandi, Arjun Munda, Shibu Soren, Madhu Koda, Raghubar Das, and Champai Soren.
(With IANS input)