Ranchi: BJP leader Raghubar Das today took oath as Jharkhand's 10th Chief Minister, the first non-tribal to occupy the post, at the famous Birsa Munda Football Stadium in Ranchi at 11 am.
Along with Das, 60, CP Singh, Nilkanth Singh Munda and Louis Marandi of the BJP and Chandra Prakash Choudhary of the AJSU also took oath as minister. Jharkhand can have a maximum of 12 ministers, including the Chief Minister.
Jharkhand Governor Syed Ahmed administered the oath of office and secrecy to Das and four others.
READ MORE: Know Raghubar Das, the first non-tribal CM of Jharkhand
From today onwards, Das will head the tenth government in Jharkhand's 14-year history. He is the sixth individual to be Chief Minister after Babulal Marandi (once), Arjun Munda (thrice), Shibu Soren (thrice), Madhu Koda (once) and Hemant Soren (once).
PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah skipped the swearing-in ceremony as the two couldn't manage to fly to Ranchi due to bad weather. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu were among others who attended the event.
The BJP and AJSU won a simple majority in the 81-member House. The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 37 seats while the AJSU won five seats.
