A day before attending the first session of fifth Jharkhand Assembly, newly-elected Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Sunday garlanded statues of tribal heroes Sidhu-Kanhu and Chand Bhairav, and sought their blessings at Bhognadih in Sahibganj district – a part of tribal dominated Santhal Pargana, which is said to be a stronghold of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha .
“How can we begin our journey of serving people without seeking the blessings of our great tribal heroes? The Government will work in accordance with the ideology of the great martyrs of Jharkhand and fulfill the dreams they had for our State,” Soren said.
He added that the people of Jharkhand have bestowed their trust upon him and given him the highest possible honour by electing him as the Chief Minister of the State. “Let me assure you all that I will not act like a Chief Minister, but as a son, a brother and a friend. Every step of the Government will be targeted at public welfare and holistic development, I promise,” he said while addressing a public meeting at Bhognadih – said to be a place of historical relevance and heritage for the tribal community.
Soren assured all the contractual workers of the State that their arrears will soon be paid. Thousands of ad-hoc teachers, Anganwadi workers and other contractual staff have been waiting for the disbursement of their salary by the Government. The outgoing Government could not pay honorarium to many para teachers due to lack of funds. Anganwadi Sevikas too had been up in arms against the Government demanding timely payment of honorarium. “If you have worked for the Government, then the Government will definitely pay all your arrears. But I would request you all to be a little patient,” said Soren, adding that the Governments wants to build an atmosphere of harmony and mutual trust in the State and treat it like one big family.
During the Janta Darbar, Soren distributed assets worth over Rs.11808 lakh among 8301 beneficiaries, primarily members of Sakhi Mandals. At least 20 stalls of various departments of the Government were also set up at the Janta Darbar. Sunday’s speech was Soren’s first address from a Government platform since taking oath as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Soren, who was the Leader of Opposition during the five-year-tenure of the outgoing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government, had earlier served as the Chief Minister in a coalition Government for a period of 14 months.
The JMM won 30 of 81 Assembly seats in the State – the highest till date – in the recently concluded polls, and Soren has been credited for being one of the scriptwriters of the victory over BJP. The BJP was restricted to only 25 seats in the elections. Soren has been in the news lately for his approachability, simplicity and accessibility. He has been meeting commoners since he took charge as the CM and has made several new fans even outside Jharkhand after his tweet requesting books instead of bouquets went viral.