Jharkhand Governor invites JMM MLA Champai Soren to take oath as CM today

Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan has nominated JMM leader Champai Soren as chief minister and invited him to take oath on Friday. Earlier on Thursday, Soren along with 43 legislators met Governor Radhakrishnan at Raj Bhavan in Ranchi, staking a claim to form the government in the state.

"We have demanded from the Governor that the process to start the formation of the new Government should begin. The Governor has also assured us that the process will begin soon," Champai Soren told reporters after the meeting with the governor. "Currently, we have submitted the report with 43 MLAs in our support. We expect that the number will reach 46-47 so there is no problem. Our 'gathbandhan' is very strong," he added.

In the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led alliance, which includes Congress and RJD, has 47 MLAs, including 29 of JMM, 17 of Congress, and 1 of RJD. The BJP has 25 members and the AJSU party has three MLAs. The NCP and CPI (ML)L have one member each, apart from 3 Independents.

(With inputs from PTI)