Champai Soren To Take Oath As Jharkhand CM Today, Floor Test To Be Held In 10 Days

On Thursday, Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan invited Champai Soren to Raj Bhavan to form the government in the state.

Jharkhand News: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha party leader Champai Soren is set to take the oath as Chief Minister of Jharkhand today. On Thursday, Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan invited Champai Soren to Raj Bhavan to form the government in the state. 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 requested the governor accept his claim to form the government at the earliest as there was "confusion" in the state, which was without a chief minister after Hemant Soren’s resignation. Speaking to news agency PTI, 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.”

Asked when the new chief minister will take the oath, Thakur told PTI: "We will ensure that it is taken by noon on Friday before the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra enters the state." Amid concerns over the delay in the appointment of Champai Soren as the next chief minister by the governor, the majority alliance had also taken steps to shift its MLAs from Jharkhand into two chartered planes in a bid to ring-fence them against a possible poaching attempt by the BJP.

Meanwhile, a special PMLA court in Ranchi sent JMM leader and former 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 land scam. 

On Thursday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Hemant Soren's petition against arrest by the probe agency on Friday. The case was mentioned by senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi in front of a bench headed by the CJI DY Chandrachud. Sibal, appearing for Soren, said that they are withdrawing the case from the high court.