Ranchi, Nov 28 :JMM leader Hemant Soren took oath as the 14th chief minister of Jharkhand in a grand ceremony here on Thursday, amid the presence of a galaxy of INDIA bloc leaders. The 49-year-old tribal leader was sworn in as the chief minister by Jharkhand Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar. The governor administered the oath of office and secrecy to Soren at a function held in Morabadi ground in Ranchi, where Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal were present.

Prior to taking the oath, Soren, donning a kurta and pyjama, met JMM president and his father Shibu Soren. This is the fourth stint of the JMM leader as the chief minister. Hemant Soren retained the Barhait seat by defeating BJP's Gamliyel Hembrom by a margin of 39,791 votes in the recent assembly polls.  The JMM-led alliance stormed to victory, securing 56 seats in the 81-member Jharkhand assembly, while the BJP-led NDA managed 24 constituencies.

/Agencies