Champai Soren takes oath as Jharkhand CM
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Vice-President Champai Soren took oath as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand at the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi on Friday. He will be required to prove his majority in a floor test to be scheduled in the next 10 days. Champai's oath comes two days after Hemant Soren's dramatic exit from the office, and subsequent arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Champai takes oath
Champai to prove his majority in a floor test
Champai, the transport minister in the Hemant Soren government, was chosen late Wednesday as the leader of the JMM legislative party. In the 81-member house, the ruling JMM-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance has 47 MLAs, easily breaching the 41 majority mark. The 67-year-old is reportedly backed by 43 MLAs from the ruling alliance, many of whom took their oaths with him on Friday.
No government in state for 18 hours: Champai to governor
On Thursday, Champai wrote to Radhakrishnan, urging him to accept his claim to form the government as soon as possible. "There has been no government in the state for 18 hours. Being the constitutional head, we expect you will soon take steps," he wrote to the governor. Several leaders, including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, also pointed toward the delay in Champai's oath-taking ceremony.
BJP has 25 MLAs, AJSU has 3
Meanwhile, the BJP has 25 MLAs, while the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) has three. The remaining are divided among the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and a left-wing party (one each). The delay in the governor's decision, combined with the slim margin of numbers in the assembly, prompted the JMM-Congress-RJD coalition to plan to shift their MLAs in order to avoid poaching.
Speculation surrounding Jharkhand government formation
There were speculations that the BJP might be preparing to stake a claim to form the next government, despite lacking the majority. Concerned about potential poaching attempts by the BJP, the JMM-Congress-RJD coalition herded their MLAs and planned to fly them to Congress-ruled Telangana. However, this plan was thwarted when the chartered planes destined for Hyderabad failed to take off due to bad weather.
