Champai Soren sworn in as new Chief Minister of Jharkhand days after Hemant Soren’s arrest
- JMM legislature party leader Champai Soren becomes the new Chief Minister of Jharkhand after Hemant Soren's resignation and arrest by the ED.
JMM legislature party leader Champai Soren on 2 February took oath as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand at the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi. This comes two days after Hemant Soren's resignation as the CM and his arrest by the ED.
Champai Soren was appointed to the chief minister's post on Thursday after he urged the governor to accept his claim to form the government at the earliest as there was "confusion" in the state which was without a chief minister since the resignation of Hemant Soren on Wednesday, deepening a political crisis. Champai Soren has 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.
The 67-year-old tribal leader sworn in as the 12th chief minister of the state. He is the sixth CM from the Jharkhand’s Kolhan region which comprises East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan districts.
During the oath taking ceremony, senior Congress leader Alamgir Alam, RJD leader Satyanand Bhokta took oath as cabinet ministers.
Who is Champai Soren?
Champai Soren is the eldest son of Simal Soren, a farmer from the Jilinggoda village in the Saraikela-Kharsawan district. He received education up to Class 10 from a government school. He got married at a young age and have four sons and three daughters. Soren actively participated in the Jharkhand movement in the late 90s along with Shibu Soren, and soon gained fame as the 'Jharkhand Tiger.' He had started his political career by becoming an independent MLA through a by-election on the Saraikela seat in 1991. Four years later, he contested the assembly polls from the seat on the JMM ticket and defeated the BJP's Panchu Tudu. In the 2000 assembly elections, he was defeated from the same constituency by the BJP's Anant Ram Tudu. He regained the seat in 2005 as defeating the BJP candidate by a margin of only 880 votes. Soren won the subsequent elections in 2009, 2014 and 2019. He served as a cabinet minister in the BJP government headed by Arjun Munda between September 2010 to January 2013. When Hemant Soren formed a government in the state in 2019, Champai Soren became the Minister of Food and Civil Supplies and Transport.
Meanwhile, 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. The lawmakers of the JMM-led alliance are being taken to Hyderabad in a bid to ring-fence them against a possible poaching attempt by the BJP. Hyderabad is the capital of Telangana which is governed by the Congress.
(With inputs from PTI)
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
Business NewsNewsChampai Soren sworn in as new Chief Minister of Jharkhand days after Hemant Soren’s arrest
First Published:2 Feb 2024, 12:32 PM IST
- Top Gainers
- Top Losers
- 52 Week High