With leaders and MLAs of the I.N.D.I.A block unanimously electing JMM executive president as Legislature party leaders,Hemant Soren is set to take oath as CM of Jharkhand for the third time.
The meeting of leaders and MLAs of the I.N.D.I.A block comprising JMM, Congress, RJD and Left parties took place inside the official residence of the Chief Minister in Kanke road on Wednesday.
Among those present in the meeting included
Congress's Jharkhand in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir and its State president Rajesh Thakur also attended the meeting, besides Hemant Soren's brother Basant and wife Kalpana.
Following the above decision, chief minister Champai Soren is going to resign and Hemant Soren is slated to meet the Governor C. P. Radhakrishnan for his approval for taking oath as the CM.
When sworn in, Soren will be the 13th Chief Minister of Jharkhand during the past nearly 24 years since this state was carved out of Bihar on November 15, 2000.
Hemant Soren was released from jail on June 28 after nearly five months, as the high court granted him bail in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.
Hemant Soren had resigned as the CM before his arrest on January 31.
Meanwhile, in a post on X, BJP MP Nishkant Dubey said: "The Champai Soren era is over in Jharkhand. In the family-oriented party, people outside the family have no political future. I wish the Chief Minister drew inspiration from Bhagwan Birsa Munda and stood up against the corrupt Hemant Soren ji."
As it is,Champai Soren, who had taken oath as the 12th Chief Minister of Jharkhand on February 2 after Hemant Soren's arrest and his resignation on January 31. Against 12 berths , the Jharkhand Cabinet at present has a strength of 10 Ministers.
Two posts of Ministers remain vacant. Earlier, on February 16, a total of eight MLAs were inducted in the cabinet in addition to three on February 2, including Champai Soren.
Of the 11, Rural Development and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Alamgir Alam tendered his resignation on June 11 after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case. After the Lok Sabha elections, the strength of the JMM-led alliance in the State has reduced to 45 MLAs — JMM-27, Congress-17 and RJD-1.
Two JMM MLAs, Nalin Soren and Joba Majhi, are now parliamentarians, while Jama legislator Sita Soren resigned to contest the general elections on a BJP ticket.
The JMM expelled two more legislators — Bishunpur MLA Chamra Linda and Boriyo MLA Lobin Hembrom — from the party, but they are yet to resign from the assembly.
Likewise, the BJP's strength in the assembly has reduced to 24, as two of its MLAs — Dhulu Mahto (Baghmara) and Manish Jaiswal (Hazaribag) — contested the Lok Sabha elections and are now MPs.
The saffron party has expelled Mandu MLA Jaiprakash Bhai Patel after he joined the Congress to contest the polls. However, Patel is yet to resign from the assembly. The current strength of the 81-member Jharkhand assembly is 76.