Ranchi: JMM leader Hemant Soren, the son of Jharkhand architect Shibu Soren, took the reins of the state as chief minister on Sunday, a week after a three-party coalition, led by him, swept the assembly polls, bagging 47 seats in the 81-member Assembly.
Governor Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office and secrecy to Soren, in the presence of senior political leaders and chief ministers from across states.
This will be the 44-year-old JMM leader's second stint as Jharkhand chief minister. His first had lasted for just about 14 months since July 15 2013.
Along with Soren, Congress Legislature Party Leader Alamgir Alam, state Congress president Rameshwar Oraon and RJD MLA Satyanand Bhokta were also sworn in as state cabinet ministers at Sunday's event.
Born to Shibu Soren, known as 'Guruji' to his innumerable followers, and wife Roopi on August 10, 1975, at Nemra village in Ramgarh district of Jharkhand, the newly sworn-in chief minister has been widely credited with stitching the alliance to defeat the seemingly invincible BJP.
The senior Soren, who had served as chief minister thrice, is known to have groomed Hemant to helm the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), after his elder son Durga Soren died of suspected kidney failure and he was convicted in the Chirrudih massacre case.
Hemant Soren went on to become a Rajya Sabha member in 2009- 2010, before becoming Jharkhand's youngest chief minister in 2013, with the support of the Congress and the RJD.
Soren's rule was, however, short-lived as the BJP seized power in 2014 in the politically unstable state and Raghubar Das took charge.
In 2014, he won a seat in the Jharkhand assembly and became the leader of the opposition.
Cornered over the last five years, with the saffron party accusing him and his family of violating the Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act and Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, Soren took time but patiently overcame the tempest and formed the pre-poll alliance with old friends - the Congress and RJD.
In the just-conducted Assembly elections, the JMM- Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance triumphed over the BJP, winning 47 seats in the 81-member House.
Four other MLAs - three from the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) and one from the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) have also extended their support to the three-party coalition.
Those present at the swearing-in ceremony here include Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Rajasthan counterpart Ashok Gehlot.
(With inputs from PTI)
