Soren to be sworn in on Wednesday

Patna, Dec. 27: The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief, Mr Shibu Soren, was on Sunday invited by the Governor, Mr K. Sankaranarayanan, to form a government in the state. The invitation came shortly after the governor apprised the President, Ms Pratibha Patil, of the latest political situation in Jharkhand and urged her to revoke President’s Rule.

Mr Soren, 65, will head Jharkhand’s JMM-BJP-AJSU coalition government to become the seventh chief minister in the nine years since Jharkhand became a separate state. Guruji, as Mr Soren is widely known, met the Governor on Sunday afternoon and suggested December 30 as the date for taking the oath of office. His swearing-in ceremony, the third such occasion for the tribal leader in five years — is to be held at Morabadi Maidan in Ranchi, said JMM sources.

After years of seeing the Chief Minister’s post go to those he considers lesser tribal leaders — Mr Babulal Marandi, Mr Arjun Munda and Mr Madhu Koda — Mr Soren hopes to have a smooth five-year term this time.

His previous stint as CM lasted less than five months with his humiliating defeat in an Assembly bypoll in January.

This paved the way for President’s Rule in the state. Before this, Mr Soren was chief minister for just nine days in March 2005.

“All the parties in our (ruling) coalition would follow the right ideology. Nobody will go against the commonly agreed agenda,” Mr Soren told reporters on Sunday.

Shedding his earlier apathy to the BJP, with whose crucial support he is forming the government, he described BJP state president Raghubar Das as a “gentleman”. Mr Das is set to be one of the two deputy chief ministers, the other one being AJSU chief Sudesh Mahto.

The BJP, facing criticism from the Congress and its ally, the JVM of former chief minister Babulal Marandi, over its decision to support the JMM to form a government, justified its step by attacking the Congress for earlier supporting Madhu Koda.