Pranab Mukherjee among leaders to attend Hemant Soren swearing-in today

RANCHI: Jharkhand chief minister-designate and JMM executive president Hemant Soren will take oath as the 11th Chief Minister of the State on Sunday in the presence of a galaxy of leaders including former President of India Pranab Mukherjee.

The swearing-in ceremony will take place at the Morabadi ground in Ranchi. Huge tents have been set up for the oath ceremony. Elaborate security arrangements have been made in view of the presence of leaders from various parties. Along with Soren, three ministers are likely to take oath on Sunday, though the portfolio sharing formula has not yet been finalized.

"Nothing has been discussed regarding who will take oath as minister. We will let the media know when it is finalized", said R.P.N. Singh, Jharkhand Congress in-charge, to reporters after reaching Ranchi from Delhi on Saturday afternoon. Singh will hold a closed-door meeting with Hemant Soren on Saturday night to discuss the form of the ministry.

Sources in the Congress said that the party wants five cabinet berths but JMM wants to give only four and one to the RJD.

As per the JMM formula, it will get seven cabinet berths including the Chief Minister. The JMM, the Congress and the RJD are pre-poll alliance partners. Congress, however, wants that the RJD which has won only one seat should be accommodated in either a Board or a Corporation.

Owing to the disagreement over the power-sharing formula, only three ministers including two from the Congress and one from the JMM, apart from Hemant Soren, will take oath on Sunday. The Cabinet expansion may be deferred till Kharmas (inauspicious month), ends on January 15.

The leaders who are expected to attend include former President of India Pranab Mukherjee, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders like P. Chidambaram, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Maharashtra Chief Minister, and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav. (IANS)

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