'Jharkhand Tiger' Champai Soren takes oath as CM, 2 ministers also sworn in

Ranchi: Veteran Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Champai Soren was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Jharkhand alongside two other ministers belonging to the coalition constituents Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) here on Friday.

Sixty-seven year old Soren was administered the oath of office and secrecy by the state Governor C P Radhakrishnan at a solemn function in the Darbar Hall of the Raj Bhavan.

Congress legislature party leader Alamgir Alam and Satyanand Bhokta of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) took oath as ministers after Soren, who has been asked to prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly within ten days from the date of his appointment.

Sixty-seven-year-old Soren replaces his party leader Hemant Soren, who resigned on Wednesday night and has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.

Champai Soren, who represents the Saraikela constituency in the Assembly, is the seventh Chief Minister of the tribal-majority eastern state. He is a four-time member of the Jharkhand Assembly. Earlier, he was elected once as a legislator in Bihar before Jharkhand's formation.

The 1956-born Champai Soren was the minister in charge of Transport, Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Caste & Backward class welfare in Hemant Soren's cabinet. Both Alam and Bhokta also were members of Hemant Soren's cabinet since 2019.

After taking the oath, Soren told the media his government would speed up and ensure the timely completion of the initiatives taken by the coalition government under the leadership of Hemant Soren for the holistic development of the tribals and all other people of Jharkhand.

"We will work to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the people of the state," he said.

Without naming any party, Soren lashed out against the opposition for attempting to destabilise Jharkhand through a campaign of lies. "The efforts of the opposition to destabilise Jharkhand through a campaign of lies has not been successful because our coalition is strong. In the future also our strong coalition will prevail over the lies and conspiracies hatched by the opposition," he said.