News Brief
Day-Long Suspense Ends: JMM Leader Champai Soren To Take Oath As Jharkhand CM Today
Champai Soren (Right) with Jharkhand Governor C P Radhakrishnan (Middle)
The suspense on who will be the next Jharkhand Chief Minister is ending with veteran Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Champai Soren set to take oath of the post today (2 February).
The 67-year-old JMM leader has been invited by the Governor C P Radhakrishnan to form the government in Jharkhand -- more than 24 hours after the arrest of his predecessor and JMM chief Hemant Soren in an alleged money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Champai Soren has been mandated to demonstrate his majority in a floor test, which will be held within the next 10 days.
Champai Soren had earlier met the Governor on Thursday, pleading that he be called to take oath.
"There is no government (in the state) for 18 hours. There is a situation of confusion. Being the constitutional head, we expect you will soon take steps for the formation of a popular government," read his letter to the Governor, NDTV reported.
The ruling JMM-Congress-RJD alliance of Jharkhand has 47 MLAs in the 81-member house, where the majority mark is 41. Currently 43 MLAs are backing Champai Soren.
The delay in the Governor's decision and the slim margin of numbers in the state Assembly reportedly led the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance to prepare for shifting of their MLAs to avoid poaching.
However, due to the bad weather, the Telangana-bound plane could not take-off and the MLAs were taken to a government guest house in Ranchi.
Following these events, Champai Soren got a call from the Governor on late Thursday evening.
This comes as JMM chief Hemant Soren was arrested on Wednesday (31 January) night by the ED after he submitted his resignation as Jharkhand CM to the Governor.
He was presented before a PMLA court, which sent him to a one-day judicial custody on Thursday.
While the ED sought custody for 10 days, the court will decide on it in today's hearing.
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