Popular rule was on Saturday restored in Jharkhand with Hemant Soren being sworn in as chief minister of a coalition government led by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
Thirty-seven-year-old Soren, son of JMM chief Shibu Soren, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by governor Syed Ahmed this morning after President Pranab Mukherjee revoked the nearly six-month-long central rule in the state.
Rajendra Prasad Singh and Annapurna Devi, Legislature Party (LP) leaders of the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) respectively which are part of the coalition, were also sworn in as ministers during the ceremony at the Birsa Mandap on Raj Bhavan premises.
Soren, who gave the governor a list of 43 MLAs supporting him in the 82-member assembly, is expected to expand his ministry after taking the floor test.
Soren, who heads the ninth ministry in less than 13 years, became the fifth tribal CM after Babulal Marandi (once), Arjun Munda (thrice), Shibu Soren (thrice) and Madhu Koda (once) since the state was created on November 15, 2000.
JMM president Shibu Soren, who was present at the ceremony, and Hemant Soren have now got the distinction of being the first father and son to have ruled the state.
The senior Soren had three short terms at the helm of affairs between 2005 and 2010.
The governor invited Hemant Soren for the swearing-in ceremony late Friday night after Raj Bhavan received official communication about the Presidential nod on the cabinet recommendation for revocation of central rule.
The JMM-LP leader had staked claim on July 9 for formation of a government in alliance with Congress, RJD, smaller parties and independent MLAs.
The President’s rule was imposed on January 18 due to political instability after the JMM withdrew support to the BJP-led government under Arjun Munda and it was set to end on July 18.
This is the third government in the same house after the results threw a fractured mandate in the November/December 2009 assembly elections.
President’s rule was earlier imposed after BJP pulled out from the Shibu-Soren led alliance on May 24, 2010 as JMM chief had voted along with the UPA in a cut motion in Lok Sabha that year. The JMM later extended support to the BJP on September 11, 2010.
“We will put all our efforts in the development of the state,” state minister Rajendra Prasad Singh said soon after taking oath.
RJD’s Annapurna Devi said the alliance would address basic needs of the people like road, electricity, drinking water and irrigation.
The JMM chief, his wife Roopi, and a host of MLAs as well as leaders of different parties were present during the swearing-in ceremony here.
Hemant Soren was pushed in the limelight of state politics following the death of his elder brother Durga in 2009 who was considered the natural successor to Shibu Soren.
Hemant was defeated by then JMM leader Stephen Marandi, now in the Congress, in the 2005 assembly elections in the Dumka seat. In December 2009, Hemant won the seat in the assembly polls.
Prior to this, Hemant had a brief stint in the Rajya Sabha.
Hemant became deputy chief minister when Arjun Munda headed a coalition of the BJP/JMM/JDU/Ajsu party on September 11, 2010.
Hemant and his wife Kalpana have two sons. Hemant has a younger brother Basant and a sister Anjali.