Arjun Munda sworn in as Jharkhand chief minister

BJP leader Arjun Munda took oath as the eighth Chief Minister of Jharkhand at the head of a coalition government with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.

BJP leader Arjun Munda took oath as the eighth Chief Minister of Jharkhand on Saturday. He was administered the oath of office by Governor M.O.H. Farook at Raj Bhavan. File Photo

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arjun Munda was on Saturday sworn in as Chief Minister of Jharkhand for the third time at the Raj Bhavan here while Hemant Soren and Sudesh Mahto were sworn in as Deputy Chief Ministers.

Sources said senior leader L.K. Advani and party president Nitin Gadkari, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley did not attend the event. The ceremony started at 11.55 a.m., considered more auspicious than the earlier scheduled time.

Mr. Munda has the support of 45 MLAs in the 81-member Assembly.

BJP leader Rajnath Singh, spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, Mr. Shibu Soren and his wife Rupi attended the ceremony.

The BJP had withdrawn support to the Shibu Soren government in May and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief was forced to resign on May 30, which led to the President's rule on June.