Supporters of Hemant Soren hail his appointment as Jharkhand CM

Activists and supporters of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) have hailed the appointment of Hemant Soren as Jharkhand's ninth chief minister.

Colourful and noisy public rallies greeted the announcement in various parts of the state over the weekend.

Soren took oath of office on Saturday.

JMM leader S. Modak said in Dhanbad: "The workers of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the public are celebrating this as an achievement of our party. We are celebrating and happy to have Hemant Soren as the chief minister of Jharkhand."

Jharkhand Congress president Sukhdeo Bhagat said in New Delhi: "We will try to use the short tenure of one and a half years to promote and achieve public welfare. With the help of our common minimum programme, we want to reach out to the common man and solve their grievances and form a reliable and transparent government."

In Bokaro and Dhanbad, JMM supporters fired celebratory gunshots, burst fire crackers and sprinkled colour on each other.

Hemant Soren was a former deputy chief minister in Jharkhand's previous BJP-led coalition government. He staked a claim to form the government with the support of 43 legislators on July 9.

President's Rule in the state was revoked on Saturday, five days before it was set to expire.

The JMM, the Congress party and regional Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) have 18, 13 and 5 legislators, respectively in the 81-member Jharkhand legislative assembly.

As part of the deal, the Congress would contest 10 out of the 14 parliament seats in the ensuing 2014 elections.