Champai Soren took oath as Chief Minister of Jharkhand Friday afternoon, two days after Hemant Soren's dramatic, and controversial, arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case. He will be required to prove his majority in a floor test to be scheduled in the next 10 days.
The 67-year-old Mr Soren is backed by 43 MLAs from the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal alliance, two of whom (one each from the Congress and the RJD) took oath with too. His swearing-in puts an end, for now, to one half of the crisis that has engulfed Jharkhand.
Mr Soren, a six-time lawmaker and the Transport Minister in the Hemant Soren government, was chosen late Wednesday as the leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's legislative party.
His nomination followed talk of a power struggle within the ruling JMM; there were reports factions of the Soren family - upset by talk that Hemant Soren's wife, Kalpana Soren, who has no electoral or administrative experience would be installed as Chief Minister - were vying for the top post.
After he emerged as a consensus candidate, Mr Soren tried to meet Governor CP Radhakrishnan Wednesday evening - minutes after Hemant Soren resigned and was arrested.
READ | How Champai Soren Emerged Consensus Candidate In Jharkhand
However, Mr Soren, who was accompanied by several JMM lawmakers, could not meet Mr Radhakrishnan, leading to speculation the BJP may be prepping a claim of its own to form the next government, even though it was (and still is) well short of the majority mark.
That concern prompted the JMM-Congress-RJD to herd their MLAs and prepare to fly them out of Jharkhand, and to Congress-ruled Telangana, to guard against "poaching" attempts by the BJP.
READ | Champai Soren Kept On Hold By Governor, MLAs To Be Moved Out Of Jharkhand
However, in a dramatic twist, the planes chartered to fly them to Hyderabad failed to take off due to bad weather, and the MLAs were returned, under police guard, to a nearby government rest-house.
In the midst of this drama, Champai Soren and Mr Radhakrishnan had a second meeting, at which once again the Governor was urged to recognise the former's majority-driven claim to the top post.
"There is no government... there is situation of confusion. Being the constitutional head, we expect you will soon take steps for formation of a popular government," Mr Soren wrote to the Governor.
This time Mr Radhakrishnan acknowledged the claim but deferred his decision. Then, in another twist, hours later the Governor summoned Champai Soren and invited him to form the government.
The ruling JMM-Congress-RJD of Jharkhand has 47 MLAs in the 81-member house. Of these 47, 29 are from the JMM, 17 are from the Congress, and the RJD has one.
The BJP has 25 MLAs and the AJSU, or All Jharkhand Students Union, has three. The remaining seats are divided between the NCP and a Left party (one each) and there are three independent MLAs.
If the MLAs now backing Champai Soren remain committed, he will have no problem proving his majority. However, if any six of them waver, that will open the door for the BJP to snatch an opposition-ruled state just months before the Lok Sabha election.
READ | "Not Interfering": Top Court Dismisses Hemant Soren's Plea Against Arrest
Meanwhile, Hemant Soren's appeal before the Supreme Court this morning was heard and dismissed. The top court directed the JMM boss to approach the state's High Court for relief. Hours later a special court in Ranchi sent him to the custody of the ED for five days.
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