Jharkhand CM Oath: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Champai Soren took oath as Jharkhand Chief Minister at the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi on Friday. This comes two days after former state CM Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged land scam case.
Along with him, Congress's Alamgir Alam and Rashtriya Janata Dal's Satyanand Bhokta took oath as a ministers in the Jharkhand cabinet.
RJD's Satyanand Bhokta took oath as a minister in the Jharkhand cabinet at the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi.
Congress leader Alamgir Alam served as the parliamentary affairs minister in the Hemant Soren government, while RJD"s Satyanand Bhokta held the position of Minister of Labour, Planning, Training, and Skill Development in the state government.
Ahead of the oath taking ceremony, BJP MLA CP Singh had said, "...It is true that Champai Soren is very close to the Shibu Soren family. So, naturally, he is going to operate through remote control. The remote control will be with the Soren family. He will not be able to do anything independently. He will do whatever will be told to him. That is what is going to happen...Congress and RJD are with them (JMM), they will blackmail him a lot. Loot will increase as there is not much (until elections)."
On Thursday, state Governor CP Radhakrishnan invited Soren to Raj Bhavan to form the government. State Congress chief Rajesh Thakur said that Champai Soren has been given 10 days to prove his government's majority, PTI reported. Congress is a key constituent of the alliance.
The nomination came after Soren urged the governor to accept his claim to form the government at the earliest. Governor's Principal Secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni said, “We have invited him to take the oath. Now they will decide when to take the oath,” as quoted by news agency PTI.
Meanwhile, a special PMLA court in Ranchi sent former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren to one-day judicial custody in connection with an alleged land scam case. On Wednesday, Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate after six hours of questioning in the money laundering case linked to the alleged scam.
Earlier, the Congress raised questions over the delay in inviting Soren to head the government in the state despite having the support of 48 MLAs. The Congress asserted that the delay amounts to contempt of the Constitution and denial of public mandate.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge took to social media platform X and shared a video of Jharkhand MLAs of the Congress and JMM and accused governors of hammering nails in the coffin of Indian democracy.