Champai Soren, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha veteran, on Friday took oath as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. His swearing in came after Hemant Soren's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a land scam.
Congress leader Alamgir Alan and Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) Satyanand Bhogta also took oath as ministers.
Now, a massive floor test awaits Champai Soren, wherein he has to prove his majority in 10 days.
The Champai Soren-led government needs to meet the 41 majority mark, and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader has said as many as 43 MLAs are in their support currently.
Hemant Soren named Champai Soren as his successor on Wednesday, hours before his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the land scam.
A total of 39 ruling coalition MLAs, including Hemant Soren's brother and MLA Basant Soren, are likely to head to Hyderabad in what is an attempt to ring-fence them and thwart poaching bids by the BJP. They were supposed to arrive in Telangana's capital on Thursday, and two chartered planes were also ready but their plane failed to take off due to poor weather and low visibility.
Champai Soren on Thursday staked claim to forming a government in Jharkhand after meeting Governor CP Radhakrishnan. Several leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge, had pointed out the delay in his oath taking ceremony.
Before meeting the Jharkhand Governor on Thursday, the ruling coalition of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal released a video statement of the 43 Opposition MLAs backing Champai Soren. Later, he was accompanied to the Raj Bhavan by Congress legislative party leader Alamgir Alam, RJD MLA Satyanand Bhokta, CPI (ML) L legislator Vinod Singh and lawmaker Pradeep Yadav.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to hear Hemant Soren's plea against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate and summons issued by the probe agency, asking the former Jharkhand Chief Minister to move the High Court instead. Meanwhile, Hemant Soren, who was remanded to one-day judicial custody on Thursday, has now been sent to five-day Enforcement Directorate custody.
Members from various Opposition parties walked out of the Lok Sabha on Friday in protest over the political crisis in Jharkhand during the Budget session of Parliament. The members disrupted the proceedings of the House and sloganeered before walking out of Parliament.
