Hemant Soren takes oath as Jharkhand CM

Hemant Soren took oath as the 14th chief minister of Jharkhand on Thursday at a function held in Morabadi ground in Ranchi.

Governor Santhosh Kumar Gangwar administered the oath of office and secrecy to Soren. 

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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal were present at the venue. 

Before attending the oath-taking event, Soren met the JMM president and his father Shibu Soren and took his blessings. 

This is the fourth stint of the JMM leader as the chief minister.

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bihar's Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav were among the political leaders who attended the ceremony.

Amid tight security arrangements, tribal troupes danced to the tune of 'dhol and nagara'. 

Earlier, Soren on X wrote that unity is the biggest weapon of people of the state, who can "neither be divided nor silenced".

"Our fight is firm and unceasing. The struggle continues and will continue till the last breath," he said. 

By defeating BJP's Gamliyel Hembrom by a margin of 39,791 votes, Soren retained the Barhait seat. JMM-led alliance swept the recent assembly polls, securing 56 seats in the 81-member assembly. The BJP-led NDA managed to get only 24 seats.

In view of the swearing-in of the Hemant Soren government, schools in Ranchi city were shut on Thursday. 

Soren took the oath alone as the expansion of the cabinet will be held after a vote of confidence in the assembly. 

On Tuesday, Soren met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi, his first visit to the national capital after leading the alliance to an unprecedented second consecutive term.