Ranchi, Sep 11 (IANS) Arjun Munda of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saturday took oath as the eighth chief minister of Jharkhand at the head of a government that includes the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). He will prove his majority Sep 14.
Munda, who has been chief minister twice earlier, was a JMM legislator before he joined the BJP ahead of the 2000 assembly election. He was administered the oath of office by Governor M.O.H. Farook at the Raj Bhavan.
He took oath along with Sudesh Mahto, president and legislature party leader of All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), and JMM legislature leader Hemant Soren, son of JMM chief Shibu Soren.
Munda first became chief minister in March 2003 and then in March 2005. He is also a national general secretary of the BJP and a Lok Sabha member from Jamshedpur.
BJP president Nitin Gadkari and senior leader L.K. Advani were not present at the function. Former BJP chief Rajnath Singh attended as did chief ministers Raman Singh and Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ of party-ruled states of Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.
With Munda taking oath, President’s Rule came to an end after nearly three and half months. It was imposed on June 1 after the resignation of Shibu Soren as chief minister May 31.
Munda staked claim to form the government Sep 7 with support from JMM, AJSU, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and two independent legislators.
After holding his first cabinet meeting, Munda told reporters: ‘We will seek trust vote on Sep 14. The cabinet will be expanded after seeking the trust vote.’
In the 81-member assembly, Munda enjoys the support of 45 legislators.
