Hemant Soren to take oath as Jharkhand Chief Minister at 5 pm today

Hemant Soren will be sworn in Chief Minister of Jharkhand for the third term at 5 pm today, July 4, news agency ANI said. Leaders of the INDIA bloc including JMM executive president Hemant Soren, who is also executive president of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, met Governor CP Radhakrishnan at Raj Bhavan in Ranchi on July 4.

The Governor said in a post on X that he has invited Soren to take oath as the Chief Minister. Congress state president Rajesh Thakur was quoted by news agency PTI confirming that the oath-taking will take place at 5 pm.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren tendered his resignation to the Governor on July 3 and Hemant Soren staked claim to form government. Champai, an old party loyalist, had taken over the reins of the state five months ago following Hemant Soren’s arrest by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged money laundering case.

Hemant was granted bail by High Court on June 28. A week later, he is set to return as CM. This, despite the ED reportedly planning to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against the High Court’s order granting him bail.

JMM’s legislature party chose Hemant as its leader on July 2 and he submitted a request to form the government to the Governor. JMM's INDIA bloc allies in the state – the Congress and the RJD – have endorsed the decision.

Assembly election swill be held in Jharkhand, along with Maharashtra and Haryana, later this year. InJharkhand,INDIA bloc has to defend its government. The ruling coalition has to fight anti-incumbency to seek re-election in the state.