Raghubar Das sworn in as Jharkhand chief minister - Livemint

Raghubar Das (right) being presented a bouquet by Jharkhand governor Syed Ahmed. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and five-time legislator Raghubar Das was sworn in as Jharkhand’s sixth chief minister on Sunday along with four other cabinet ministers, including a leader from its key ally, the All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU).

Das is Jharkhand’s first non-tribal chief minister and is also the first to head a majority government ever since it was carved out of Bihar in 2000. He was sworn in by Governor Syed Ahmed at a ceremony at Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Football Stadium. In the choice of the cabinet ministers, the party has focused to reward those who have performed well in the assembly elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah , who were scheduled to attend the swearing-in ceremony, missed the event because of poor weather in New Delhi disrupted their travel plans.

“Was to travel to Jharkhand to attend the oath taking ceremony of Raghubar Das but am unable to do so due to weather conditions. People of Jharkhand voted for stability. I congratulate them and pray that Jharkhand scales new heights of progress in the coming years,” Modi wrote on Twitter.

Born and brought up in Jamshedpur, Das is a lawyer and has worked at the Tata Steel Co. He rose through the ranks in the BJP of which he has been a member since the party was founded in 1980.

Others who took oath included BJP leaders Nilkanth Singh Munda, Chandreshwar Prasad Singh and Louis Marandi and AJSU leader Chandra Prakash Chaudhary. Munda, who was elected from the Khunti assembly seat, is considered to be close to former chief minister and BJP leader Arjun Munda, who lost the election. Singh MUNDA?? is also a five-time MLA and has served as the speaker of Jharkhand’s legislative assembly.

Marandi, the only woman who took oath on Sunday, was rewarded for defeating former chief minister Hemant Soren of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Chaudhary is the only representation from AJSU.

The BJP won 37 seats, along with AJSU which won five, taking the tally of the National Democratic Alliance to 42, surpassing the half-way mark of the 81 member Jharkhand legislative assembly.

In the past 14 years, Jharkhand has witnessed political instability with nine governments and three stints of President’s rule.

Some of the key promises made by the BJP in its poll manifesto include the right to food, education and health, agricultural and rural development and taking steps to curb corruption.