Champai Soren, a senior leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), took oath as the seventh chief minister of Jharkhand on Friday. He succeeds party chairperson and earlier chief minister Hemant Soren, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday evening in an alleged land scam.
As per sources, the oath-taking ceremony took place today around 12.15 pm at the Durbar Hall of the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi following a late-night invite yesterday from the Raj Bhavan to form the government.
Jharkhand Governor, C P Radhakrishnan, in a late-night development, invited the loyalist of JMM leader Hemant Soren to Raj Bhavan to form the government on Thursday. The new chief minister Champai Soren has been asked to demonstrate his majority in a floor test that should be held within the next 10 days.
Notably, the message from the Raj Bhavan earlier was that the governor was in discussion with legal experts regarding the way forward before he invited the senior JMM leader to form the government.
Champai Soren had earlier urged the governor to accept his claim to form the government at the earliest amid political uncertainties in the state since the resignation of Hemant Soren on Wednesday.
Amid the political drama unfolding in the state about forming the government, the JMM-led coalition was flying out its MLAs from Ranchi to Hyderabad, capital of Telangana, a Congress-ruled state. However, this plan had to be cancelled at the last minute as the chartered planes hired could not take off owing to extremely poor visibility yesterday.
Champai Soren takes over Hemant Soren who resigned as chief minister in the wake of the Enforcement Directorate action arrest in connection with an alleged money laundering case. Hemant Soren has been sent to judicial custody for five days. The case against Hemant Soren is linked to a “huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia” in Jharkhand.
The New Chief Minister’s Family Feels Delighted At The Development
It is a ‘matter of delight’ that he has become the chief minister,” remarked Dikuram Soren, younger brother of new Jharkhand Chief Minister, Champai Soren.
Bengali