Champai Soren taking oath as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand on February 2, 2024
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s (JMM) Champai Soren took oath as the new Chief Minister of Jharkhand on February 2. He was accompanied by Satyanand Bhokta and Alamgir Alam who were sworn in as Cabinet Ministers.
Mr. Champai was elected as the new leader of the JMM Legislature Party following Hemant Soren’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after he met the Governor and submitted his resignation as Chief Minister.
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Mr. Champai is the sixth CM from the Jharkhand’s Kolhan region which comprises East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan districts.
Champai Soren had been given 10 days to prove his government’s majority, said state Congress chief Rajesh Thakur whose party is a constituent of the JMM-led alliance.
“We stand united. Our alliance is very strong. No one can break it,” Champai Soren had said.
In the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, the majority alliance has 47 MLAs — JMM 29, Congress 17 and RJD 1. The BJP has 26 members and the AJSU Party three. The NCP and CPI (ML) have one lawmaker each, apart from two Independents.
JMM legislators to be shifted
The lawmakers of the JMM-led alliance are being shifted to Hyderabad today in a bid to ring-fence them against a possible poaching attempt by the BJP.
The MLAs had been housed at the Ranchi Circuit House since February 1 morning, waiting for the Governor’s call. The JMM released a video ‘roll call’ on social media in which all the MLAs counted themselves — 43 in total — to prove that they have the required count to form the government in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly. The JMM-led alliance claimed to have the support of 47 MLAs. It said only 43 of them were present at the ‘roll call’ as the rest of the MLAs were unwell.
Soon after this development, one bus which was parked inside the circuit house took 38 MLAs, along with their luggage, to Ranchi airport where two chartered flights were waiting. However, the MLAs had to return to the Circuit House as the flights couldn’t take off due to poor visibility caused by fog.
(With inputs from PTI)
