The swearing-in ceremony of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) working president Hemant Soren as the 11th Chief Minister of Jharkhand turned into a big display of Opposition unity in Ranchi on Sunday. A galaxy of leaders from Opposition parties was present at the historic Mohrabadi Ground where Governor Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office and secrecy to Soren around 2.18 pm.
Congress Legislative Party leader Alamgir Alam, JPCC president Rameshwar Oraon and RJD leader Satyanand Bhokta also were sworn in as State Cabinet Ministers at the event attended by several leaders of prominent national and regional parties, corporate heads and over 15,000 people from across the State.
To lend credence to the growing unity among Opposition leaders, particularly against the background of the NRC-NPR-CAA, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gelhlot, DMK leaders MK Stalin and Kanimozhi, CPI(M) chief Sitaram Yechuri, CPI’s D Raja and Atul Anjan, AAP’s Sanjay Singh, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, HAM leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, eminent socialist leader Sharad Yadav, and senior leader Saryu Roy attended the swearing-in ceremony.
The leaders shook hands and displayed bonhomie at event that heralded the advent of a JMM-Congress-RJD Government in Jharkhand, snatching away yet another State from the BJP. Decimating BJP’s “Mission 65 plus” dream, the grand alliance secured 47 seats in the Assembly polls.
Notably, in his first Cabinet meeting soon after the swearing-in, Chief Minister Soren decided to withdraw cases registered against people of the State who took part in the Patthalgadi movement and protested against the amendment to the Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act and Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act in the last few years.
On the issue of implementation of NRC in the State, the CM said that he would study the documents related to NRC and then will take any decision. Earlier before taking oath on Sunday, Hemant had tweeted, “I don’t think NRC is feasible or implementable. The entire country is against the CAA. This is happening while our country is going through an economic crisis. We can’t make people stand in queue again like the way it happened during demonetisation. Many people lost their lives. What’s the need of such Acts? Who will take responsibility for the lives lost? Even in these protests, the Government is quelling dissent through police force. This is not democracy, it’s something else.”
Sources said that five other legislators from the JMM and three from the Congress will take oath as Ministers later in the New Year. The State has a quota of 12 Cabinet ministers in the 81 member Assembly.
Soon after the swearing-in, Soren went to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi’s statue at Morhabadi Ground. In the evening, he paid homage to Jharkhand’s freedom fighter Bhagwan Birsa Munda at Birsa Chowk in Ranchi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Odisha CM Navin Patnaik, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, former PM HD Deve Gowda, former President Pranab Mukherjee congratulated Soren for becoming the Chief Minister of Jharkhand.