National desk
Sandeep Dhand Ludhiana
24 November
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren met Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar today and staked claim to form the government. He will take the oath as the Chief Minister on November 28.
Earlier, the leaders of the ‘India’ alliance in the state unanimously elected Soren as the leader of the legislature party. Soren had resigned as Chief Minister before staking his claim but will serve as the caretaker Chief Minister until the oath-taking ceremony.
After meeting the Governor, Soren said, “I have staked claim to form the government and submitted the support letter from alliance partners. The Governor has invited us to form the government.”
Soren will serve as the 14th Chief Minister of Jharkhand. This will be his fourth time in the role. Jharkhand was formed on November 15, 2000.
The ‘India’ alliance, led by Soren’s JMM, secured a landslide victory in the recently concluded elections, winning 56 of 81 assembly seats. The BJP-led NDA managed to win only 24 seats.
A meeting of alliance leaders and MLAs was held earlier in the day at Soren’s residence. Senior Congress leaders, including Ghulam Ahmed Mir and Rajesh Thakur, also attended.