Opposition to show unity at Hemant’s swearing-in

New Delhi: The swearing-in ceremony of Hemant Soren, the new Chief Minister of Jharkhand, will be an event where the Opposition parties will showcase their collective strength and give a message that non-BJP allied parties are still very much relevant. The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 2 pm on Sunday at Ranchi’s Morabadi Maidan.

The 29-member list of VIP political attendees—who have given their confirmation to attend the ceremony—that has been released by the Central Committee of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), includes former President Pranab Mukherjee and six Chief Ministers and six former Chief Ministers.

Those who have confirmed their participation apart from Mukherjee are: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Ranchi-based sources, however, said that due to the weather conditions in Delhi, there was a possibility that some top leaders, who have confirmed their participation, may not be able to make it to Ranchi at the last moment.

JMM party sources said that the compilation of the names was done with the active involvement of top Congress leaders.

“The message of this win has to go out to everyone; hence, we are trying to bring in all the big guns on one stage. Jharkhand and Maharashtra have taught us that if the Opposition parties come together and sacrifice their personal interests, the BJP will find it very hard to win. We need to tell ourselves that even at its best, the BJP got less than 35% of the votes polled, which means 65% of the voters are against the BJP’s ideologies. The congregation of senior leaders from various parties will give a very loud and reassuring message to the voters that the Opposition is still alive and kicking,” a JMM leader said.

The list of former Chief Ministers and deputy CMs who will attend the swearing-in ceremony are Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav, H.D. Kumaraswamy, Chandrababu Naidu and Tejashwi Yadav.

Maharashtra stalwart and NCP president Sharad Pawar, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, P. Chidambaram, Ahmed Patel, K.C. Venugopal and former home minister and incharge of Jharkhand, R.P.N. Singh, have also confirmed their participation.

From Tamil Nadu, DMK leaders M.K. Stalin, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, T.R. Balu will be present.

Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Harivansh, who is a Rajya Sabha member from the Janata Dal United, will also attend the function.

From Patna, the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, and senior Rashtriya Janata Dal leader, Abdul Bari Siddiqui have been invited.

According to JMM spokesman Supriyo Bhattacharya, the party has also invited Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, but no official confirmation has been received.