This Article is From Dec 28, 2014

Raghubar Das to Take Oath as Jharkhand Chief Minister Today

Raghubar Das to Take Oath as Jharkhand Chief Minister Today

BJP leader Raghubar Das being welcomed by supporters after his arrival in Ranchi on Wednesday (Press Trust of India photo)

Ranchi: BJP leader Raghubar Das will be sworn in as the first non-tribal chief minister of Jharkhand today.

Along with Mr Das, four ministers will take oath - former speaker CP Singh, MLA from Ranchi Neelkanth Singh Munda, Louis Marandi who defeated outgoing chief minister Hemant Soren in Dumka, and Chandra Prakash Choudhary from BJP's ally All Jharkhand Students' Union or AJSU.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah were scheduled to attend the oath taking ceremony, but due to dense fog in the national capital, will not be able to fly to Ranchi.

"Was to travel to Jharkhand to attend the oath taking ceremony of Shri Raghubar Das but am unable to do so due to weather conditions," the PM tweeted this morning.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Was to travel to Jharkhand to attend the oath taking ceremony of Shri Raghubar Das but am unable to do so due to weather conditions.</p> Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/549064682049245184">December 28, 2014</a></blockquote>

The ceremony, which will be held at Birsa Munda Football Stadium in state capital Ranchi, is expected to be attended by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh.

The BJP and the AJSU won the state polls, winning 42 seats in the 81-member assembly. The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 37 seats while the AJSU won five seats.

"Will bring development and good governance to Jharkhand... I want to thank everyone for this opportunity," Mr Das, a five-time legislator from East Jamshedpur said on Friday, when his name was unanimously selected at a meeting of the party's newly-elected lawmakers as the chief minister.

The 59-year-old, a former deputy chief minister and BJP vice president, had been touted a frontrunner for the top job especially after three-time former chief minister Arjun Munda, considered the tallest tribal leader of the party, lost the elections from his stronghold Kharsawan.

Jharkhand has had nine governments and three stints of President's Rule since it was created in 2000.

In its election campaign, the BJP had promised a stable government in the state. It did not project a chief ministerial candidate and built its campaign around Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his development agenda. The PM had addressed several rallies in the state.

.