Soren to prove majority on Jan 7

Top BJP leaders skip JMM chief’s oath-taking ceremony.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren was today sworn in as chief minister of Jharkhand, for the third time, at a ceremony skipped by top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the key coalition partner. Soren will take a floor test in the Assembly on January 7. The Assembly is being convened on January 4 and Soren will move a confidence motion on January 7 to demonstrate the strength of the five-party coalition in the 81-member Assembly.

The Vigilance Bureau will be strengthened and made more effective to curb corruption, Cabinet Secretary Aditya Swaroop told reporters in the presence of the CM.

Asked how he would deal with alleged illegal mining in the backdrop of the Koda scam, Soren said everything would be examined.

About induction of more ministers, a senior BJP leader said, “The ministry can be expanded after Guruji (Soren) takes the floor test.”

Soren has secured the support of 44 MLAs—JMM 18, BJP 18, JDU-2 AJSU 5 and JJM 1—in the 81-member House after the assembly elections in Jharkhand gave a fractured verdict. Congress-JVMP combine has got 22 seats.

Senior BJP MP from Jharkhand Yashwant Sinha, party’s national vice president Karuna Shukla, Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand besides Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi were present.

Soren had resigned in January this year after he failed to get himself elected to the Assembly in a by-poll.

His first term as chief minister was from March 2, 2005 which lasted just nine days as he failed to prove his majority in the Assembly.

In his second innings, he spent a little over four months from August 27, 2008. The JMM chief had staked claim to form the government on December 25, two days after the election results threw up a hung assembly.

Soren now heads the government with the help of the NDA for the first time. He has been acquitted in the JMM bribery case and in the case of murder of his personal assistant Shashinath Jha.