Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) president Hemant Soren claimed to form the government on Tuesday and said he would take oath as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand on December 29.
Earlier, Hemant Soren, who is the acting president of the JMM and the chief ministerial face of the Grand Alliance, was elected Leader of the House.
Congress legislative party leader Alamgir Alam proposed his name in the election and was supported by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav and Congress general secretary in-charge of Jharkhand, RPN Singh.
Shortly thereafter, Hemant Soren along with elected legislators of JMM, Congress, and RJD and a battery of leaders met Governor Draupadi Murmu at Raj Bhavan and sealed the claim to form the government. He also submitted a list of allies and MLAs.
Hemant Soren claimed, “I have presented to Governor Draupadi Murmu a list signed by 50 MLAs supporting my government and appealed for permission to form my government.”
He said that the swearing-in ceremony would be held on 29 December. He said that letters of allies – Congress, RJD and JVM (P) have also been submitted.
Others present with him included Congress Legislature Party leaders, Alamgir Alam, RPN Singh, Yadav.
This will be the second term of 44-year-old Hemant Soren. He appointed the eastern state for the first time in July 2013 until December 2014. His father Shibu Soren has also been the chief minister of the state for three terms.
Hemant Soren may visit Delhi on Wednesday or Thursday to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party leader Rahul Gandhi and invite him to the swearing-in ceremony.
Some chief ministers of the Congress-ruled state may also attend the function, AICC General Secretary RPN Singh said.
The swearing-in ceremony will take place after the election of a Protem Speaker to administer the oath to the newly elected members and the full-time speaker.
The current chairman Dinesh Oraon, who lost the election, resigned from the post.
The newly elected JMM legislators met at the residence of party president Shibu Soren in the afternoon and sealed Hemant Soren’s candidature.
Party MLAs also sought the blessings of senior Soren and assured him that he would play a constructive role in shaping the Jharkhand of his dreams, which would be free from oppression, coercion to protect water, forest cover and land.
Shortly thereafter, Hemant Soren visited JVM (P) chief Babulal Marandi at his residence to seek his blessings and seek his cooperation.
Babulal Marandi said that it was clear despite the coalition getting a clear majority after the election campaigns and I gave a fresh start and my unconditional support for Jharkhand.
This increased the Treasury Bench’s bench strength to 50 – 30 from JMM, 16 from Congress, 1 from RJD and three from JVM (P).
Hemant Soren also met Ranchi Archbishop Felix Toppo and wished him Christmas in the evening before presenting his claim to form the government.
After the meeting, he said, “We discussed some key areas to improve life in the state and sought the Archbishop’s guidance.”
The JMM-led coalition registered a resounding victory in the assembly elections and won 47 seats, more than half the mark. JMM won 30 seats, Congress 16 and RJD one – 22, which these parties won in 2014. JMM contested the last assembly elections alone.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 25 seats, the AJSU party two, the JVM (P) three and the other four.
Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in 2000 after a decades-long struggle for a separate tribal homeland.
Since then, the state has always had a tribal chief minister, but after the 2014 general election, the BJP chose Raghubar Das – a non-tribal, Other Backward Class (OBC) face – as the chief minister.