JMM leader Hemant Soren to take oath as Jharkhand chief minister on December 29

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) executive president Hemant Soren will take oath as chief minister of Jharkhand on December 29. The announcement came late on Tuesday evening moments after Soren met Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu at Raj Bhavan in Ranchi and staked claim to form the government in Jharkhand.

The oath-taking ceremony will take place in Ranchi's Morabadi Ground at 1 pm on Sunday. This will be the second term of Soren as Chief Minister of the mineral-rich Jharkhand.

After the meeting, Soren said, "We have claimed to form the government in Jharkhand, with the support of 50 MLAs. We have requested the Governor to invite us to form government in the state." Former state chief minister Shibu Soren, Congress state in-charge RPN Singh and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav were also present in Raj Bhavan.

Earlier, former Jharkhand chief minister and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) chief, Babulal Marandi extended unconditional support to Soren. "Our party will support Hemant Soren, unconditionally, because he has the required majority," Marandi had said.

Preparations are in full swing for the swearing-in ceremony of Soren, who stormed to victory in the Jharkhand assembly election along with allies. According to sources, chief ministers of other states will also be invited to the oath-taking ceremony. Sources added that invitations are being sent to the non-BJP chief ministers. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, party leader Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi along with former prime minister Manmohan Singh, are likely to be invited. Soren will personally go to Delhi to extend the invitations, sources added.

On Monday (December 23), Soren emerged as the winner from both the Dumka and Barhait constituencies. He won by a massive margin of 13,188 votes from the Dumka seat and by 25,740 votes from the Barhait assembly constituency.

Earlier anticipating a thumping win, Soren had thanked the voters for the mandate given to the alliance and said that this win marks a milestone in the state's history. "The trends of the election results suggest that the voters of Jharkhand have given a clear mandate for which I am very thankful to the voters. I am thankful to the people of Jharkhand for the mandate. Today`s victory is full of happiness for many but for me, it is also the day to take a vow to fulfil the expectations of the public," said Soren.

JMM won from 30 seats, BJP on 25, Congress on 16, JVM (P) on 3, AJSU on 2 and RJD on 1. JD(U) and LJP failed to open their account in the state.