Hemant Soren on Sunday took oath as the 11th Chief Minister of Jharkhand. This is his second stint as the CM. Soren has been elected from Dumka and Barhet.
Governor Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office and secrecy to Soren at Mohrabadi Ground in Ranchi, amid a galaxy of politicians and dignitaries, some of whom shared the dais.
Along with Soren, Congress Legislature Party Leader Alamgir Alam, state Congress president Rameshwar Oraon and RJD MLA Satyanand Bhokta were also sworn in as state cabinet ministers.
The first meeting of the cabinet has been convened at 7 pm, reported The Free Press Journal's Law Kumar Mishra.
The event was attended by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, reported ANI.
Other Chief Ministers in attendance included West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Chhattisgarh's Bhupesh Baghel.
DMK President MK Stalin, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav and Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav were also among the senior leaders who attended the event.
Other opposition leaders included CPI's Atul Kumar Anjan, and D Raja, CPI-M leader Sitaraman Yechury, and RPN Singh, who was Congress in-charge of Jharkhand Assembly polls.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was not in attendance. However, party MP Sanjay Singh attended the ceremony on his behalf.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, expressed his inability to attend the event due to his busy schedule. He has assured Soren that he would visit Jharkhand later, the JMM leader added.
Former Chief Minister and JMM president Shibu Soren was also present to witness his son taking oath for the second time.
In a gesture of goodwill, outgoing chief minister Raghubar Das also attended the event.
The event was termed as 'Sankalp Diwas' to mark the beginning of a new era in Jharkhand.
In the recently-conducted Assembly polls, the JMM- Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance triumphed the BJP, winning 47 seats in the 81-member House.
JMM won 30 seats, while Congress and RJD secured 16 and one seat respectively.
Four other MLAs - three from the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) and one from the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) have also extended their support to the three-party coalition.
(With inputs from agencies)
