Hemant Soren to take oath today; Pranab, Rahul to attend

The designated Chief Minister and JMM executive president Hemant Soren will take oath as the 11th Chief Minister of Jharkhand on Sunday in presence of a galaxy of opposition leaders.

The swearing-in ceremony is turning out to be a opposition show of strength as a host of leaders across political spectrum are likely to attend. West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool president Mamata Banerjee reached here on Saturday night to participate in the event. Hemant Soren met her at a hotel.

The swearing-in ceremony will take place at Morabadi ground in Ranchi at 2 p.m. Huge Pandals have been set up for the event. Elaborate security arrangements have been made in view of the presence of leaders from various parties.

Along with Hemat Soren, two Congress legislators - Alamgir Alam and Rameshwar Oraon will also take oath as ministers. As per cabinet formula, six ministries including Chief Minister will go to the JMM, four to the Congress and One to the RJD. Stephen Marandi, a JMM legislator is also likely to take oath on Sunday. The cabinet expansion will take place after January 15.

The leaders who are expected to attend include former President of India Pranab Mukherjee, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders like P. Chidambaram, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav.

The other leaders of different political parties who may attend the ceremony include Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, DMK president M.K. Stalin, TDP president Chandrababu Naidu and RJD executive president Tejashwi Yadav among others.

The Congress, the JMM and the RJD alliance won 47 seats in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly. Hemant Soren also has the support of the JVM-P and CPI-ML who have three and one legislator respectively.

This will be the first time that a government having the support of more than 50 legislators will be formed in the state. IANS