Hemant Soren meets Sonia Gandhi, invites her for swearing-in ceremony

Jharkhand chief minister-designate Hemant Soren on Wednesday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and invited her for his swearing-in ceremony scheduled in Ranchi on December 29.

Soren arrived here in the afternoon and is also expected to meet Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and invite them for the function.

He was accompanied by Congress leaders K C Venugopal and R P N Singh, who is the party's in-charge for Jharkhand.

Before the meeting with Sonia Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence, Soren had said it is a courtesy meeting.

Soren also wanted to thank the Congress and its leadership for their support in helping form a coalition government in the state, sources close to him said.

The JMM-led three-party alliance stormed to power in Jharkhand on Monday, ousting the BJP in yet another state in the Hindi heartland after the saffron party's stupendous performance in the Lok Sabha elections.

The JMM on Wednesday said Governor Droupadi Murmu has invited its working president and chief minister-designate Hemant Soren to form government.

The governor's invitation comes a day after Soren called on the govenor at Raj Bhavan to stake claim to form government, submitting a letter of support of 50 MLAs to her.

The pre-poll opposition combine bagged 47 seats (JMM 30, Congress 16 and RJD one) in the 81-member assembly, while the three-member JVM (P) has extended "unconditional support" to Soren to form government.

Contesting the Jharkhand elections alone for the first time sans long-standing ally the AJSU Party, the ruling BJP bagged 25 seats.