The Evening Wrap: Hemant Soren takes oath as Jharkhand CM for third term

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren was sworn in as Jharkhand Chief Minister for the third term on July 4, 2024. He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan at the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi. On Wednesday, Champai Soren resigned from the post of Chief Minister paving the way for his predecessor. Soren’s father and party supremo Shibu Soren, mother Rupi Soren and wife Kalpana Murmu Soren were present along with other leaders of the alliance partners. It was a simple ceremony at the Raj Bhavan in which no one took the oath of Cabinet Minister. “Despite the political ups and downs, Champai Soren ji was running the government because I was in jail. I don’t want to discuss why I was in jail because the court’s order is already in the public domain. It is only because of the court’s order that I am out of jail and have resumed my work. Now I will work for the development of the state,” Hemant Soren said after taking oath. Before going to Raj Bhavan to take oath, he posted a message on social media X saying, “I was forced to step down from the post of Chief Minister after a conspiracy was hatched against me. They could not digest the fact that a tribal was leading the state. I have always struggled in my life and tried my level best to work for the people of Jharkhand. Once again, I am coming to serve you. We will pace up the developmental work in Jharkhand.” Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 31 January 2024, however before his arrest, he resigned from the post of Chief Minister and Champai Soren, close to the JMM family, was made the Chief Minister. He won the legal battle when Jharkhand High Court granted him bail on June 28, 2024, and came out of jail. The outgoing Chief Minister Champai Soren congratulated Hemant Soren after his oath. Hemant Soren inherited politics after the death of Shibu Soren’s elder son Durga Soren and played a pivotal role in JMM. For some time, he was also a Rajya Sabha member and Deputy Chief Minister of Jharkhand during the coalition government of Arjun Munda. He was a student of BIT Mesra but he left his studies midway and entered into politics. Hemant Soren contested the Assembly elections for the first time in 2005 from the Dumka seat but lost to JMM rebel Stephen Marandi. However, in 2009, he became MLA for the first time. Hemant Soren took charge of the State as CM for the first time in 2013 with the help of Congress, RJD and others. He became MLA for the second time from the Barhait Assembly of the Santhal Pargana region. In the 2014 Assembly elections, JMM became the second largest party and Hemant Soren was made the Leader of the Opposition. After the results of the Assembly elections held in 2019, Soren on December 29, 2019, took oath as the Chief Minister of the State for the second time. His wife Kalpana Murmu Soren entered into politics soon after he went to jail and during his jail time, she won a by-poll and emerged winner on the Gandey Assembly seat. “It is a blessing of the people of Jharkhand and our party workers and off- course the order of the High Court that Hemant Soren ji is once again back as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. We have less time and we will keep working for the State. He will pace up the work as son of Jharkhand,“ said Kalpana Murumi Soren after the oath. Soren was born in Nemra, Ramgarh district of Bihar (now in Jharkhand). He has two brothers and a sister and his educational qualification is Intermediate from a school in Patna, Bihar. JMM workers celebrated the occasion by bursting fire-crackers outside Raj Bhavan. Reacting on the new government, Mr. Radhakrishnan said, “We go by the constitution but the constitution expects that we all have to address the problems of the poor people and that is what I am expecting from the new government.” West Bengal Assembly Speaker summons special session; says everything not in Governor’s hands West Bengal State Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee said on July 4 that “everything is not in the hands of the Governor”, and called a special session of the House on Friday. The Speaker’s move comes amid the ongoing impasse over the swearing-in ceremony of the two newly elected Trinamool Congress MLAs, Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain. Governor C.V. Ananda Bose had earlier invited the two MLAs to the Raj Bhavan for the oath-taking ceremony, but they refused it citing procedural norms. They later began a protest, demanding that the Governor administer the oath of office to them in the Assembly. The MLAs continued their sit-in on Thursday with placards that said, “We are waiting for the Governor.” Speaking to reporters, Banerjee said the Business Advisory Committee meeting has been scheduled for Friday noon, and the tenure of the session will be decided then. The special session is set to begin at 2 p.m.. The Speaker added, “If someone thinks that we are helpless, then he or she is wrong. The Assembly is not helpless, and everything is not in the hands of the Governor. You can’t just force everything down our throats; there are rules, regulations, and constitutional norms. All of us must abide by them.” The two MLAs, who got elected from the Baranagar and Bhagabangola seats in the recently concluded byelection, have not assumed their roles in the Assembly as their swearing-in ceremony has been delayed. The Speaker had previously sought President Droupadi Murmu’s intervention in the matter. He said, “The Governor is deliberately creating an impasse. He has turned it into an ego battle. This matter should be resolved so that the MLAs can take oath.” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had previously commented on the matter and said women “do not feel safe” at the Raj Bhavan and hence the MLAs had rejected the Governor’s offer to conduct the oath-taking ceremony at his residence. Banerjee was alluding to the harassment charges levelled against the Governor by a female staffer of the Raj Bhavan recently. Over 50 successful NEET-UG candidates move Supreme Court to stop retest for all Over 50 successful Gujarat-based NEET-UG candidates, including several who have been ranked first, have moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to restrain the Centre and the National Testing Agency from cancelling the controversy-ridden exam. They have sought a direction from the top court to the Union Education Ministry to probe, identify and take strict action against students and others who indulged in unfair practices like paper leak and impersonation in the NEET-UG exam conducted on May 5 this year. The fresh plea by 56 students has been filed days before a top court bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud is scheduled to hear as many as 26 petitions seeking reliefs like re-test and probe into the conduct of the examination plagued by allegations of malpractices. The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country. NEET-UG, 2024 was held across 4,750 centres on May 5 and around 24 lakh candidates appeared in the exam. Allegations of irregularities, including paper leaks, have led to protests in several cities and sparring between rival political parties. The pleas seeking cancellation of the exam, re-test and high-level probe are listed for hearing on July 8 in the SC. The fresh plea of Sidhharth Komal Singla and 55 other students was filed through lawyer Devendra Singh. It said “The Hon’ble court may further direct the respondents (Centre and the NTA) not to re-conduct NEET-UG... as that would not only be unreasonable and harsh for the honest and hardworking students but also would lead to the infringement of the Right to Education and therefore violative of Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution.” The plea sought a direction to the Centre and the NTA to identify and punish the examinees who adopted unfair means, identify the centres and take appropriate action where any “compromise to the established guidelines for NEET-UG 2024 examinations has been done.” PM Modi to visit Russia, Austria from July 8 to 10 Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a two-day visit to Russia from July 8 to 9 to hold the 22nd India-Russia annual summit that will review the entire range of multifaceted ties between the two countries. After concluding his trip to Russia, Modi will travel to Austria, which will be the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to that country in 41 years, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. It will be Modi’s first trip to Russia in nearly five years. His last visit to Russia was in 2019 when he attended an economic conclave in the Far East city of Vladivostok. The annual summit between the Prime Minister of India and the President of Russia is the highest institutional dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership between the two countries. So far, 21 annual summits have taken place alternately in India and Russia. The last summit was held on December 6, 2021 in New Delhi. President Vladimir Putin had visited India to attend the summit. The summit saw both sides sealing 28 MoUs and agreements besides coming out with a joint statement titled “India-Russia Partnership for Peace, Progress and Prosperity”. Modi and Mr. Putin last held bilateral talks on the margins of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) at Samarkand in Uzbekistan on September 16, 2022. In the meeting, Mr. Modi had famously pressed Putin to end the conflict in Ukraine saying “today’s era is not of war”. In Brief:Hathras stampede: Bodies of all victims identified, handed over to kin, says District Magistrate The bodies of all victims of the Hathras stampede have been identified and handed over to their families, District Magistrate Asish Kumar said in Hathras on July 4. A total of 121 people, mostly women, had died after the stampede at self-styled godman Baba Bhole’s ‘satsang’ in Hathras on July 2. Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Police said they have arrested six sevadars, including two women, in connection with the stampede. Sensex, Nifty close at fresh lifetime highs on gains in ICICI Bank, Infosys Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ticked higher to close at fresh all-time high levels on July 4, following buying in market heavyweights ICICI Bank, Infosys and TCS amid a largely positive trend in global equities. The 30-share BSE Sensex scaled an intraday record high of 80,392.64 in early trade. The index pared most of the gains later due to volatility and profit-taking by investors at record levels. Sensex closed 62.87 points or 0.08% higher at 80,049.67, its all-time closing high. The broader Nifty also hit an intra-day record high of 24,401 in early trade before closing almost flat. The 50-issue index rose by 15.65 points or 0.06% to settle at a record 24,302.15 with 23 of its shares closing higher and 27 with losses. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 04 July 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( Hemant Soren takes oath as Jharkhand CM for third term Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader [Hemant Soren was sworn in]( as Jharkhand Chief Minister for the third term on July 4, 2024. He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan at the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi. On Wednesday, Champai Soren resigned from the post of Chief Minister paving the way for his predecessor. Soren’s father and party supremo Shibu Soren, mother Rupi Soren and wife Kalpana Murmu Soren were present along with other leaders of the alliance partners. It was a simple ceremony at the Raj Bhavan in which no one took the oath of Cabinet Minister. “Despite the political ups and downs, Champai Soren ji was running the government because I was in jail. I don’t want to discuss why I was in jail because the court’s order is already in the public domain. It is only because of the court’s order that I am out of jail and have resumed my work. Now I will work for the development of the state,” Hemant Soren said after taking oath. Before going to Raj Bhavan to take oath, he posted a message on social media X saying, “I was forced to step down from the post of Chief Minister after a conspiracy was hatched against me. They could not digest the fact that a tribal was leading the state. I have always struggled in my life and tried my level best to work for the people of Jharkhand. Once again, I am coming to serve you. We will pace up the developmental work in Jharkhand.” Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 31 January 2024, however before his arrest, he resigned from the post of Chief Minister and Champai Soren, close to the JMM family, was made the Chief Minister. He won the legal battle when Jharkhand High Court granted him bail on June 28, 2024, and came out of jail. The outgoing Chief Minister Champai Soren congratulated Hemant Soren after his oath. Hemant Soren inherited politics after the death of Shibu Soren’s elder son Durga Soren and played a pivotal role in JMM. For some time, he was also a Rajya Sabha member and Deputy Chief Minister of Jharkhand during the coalition government of Arjun Munda. He was a student of BIT Mesra but he left his studies midway and entered into politics. Hemant Soren contested the Assembly elections for the first time in 2005 from the Dumka seat but lost to JMM rebel Stephen Marandi. However, in 2009, he became MLA for the first time. Hemant Soren took charge of the State as CM for the first time in 2013 with the help of Congress, RJD and others. He became MLA for the second time from the Barhait Assembly of the Santhal Pargana region. In the 2014 Assembly elections, JMM became the second largest party and Hemant Soren was made the Leader of the Opposition. After the results of the Assembly elections held in 2019, Soren on December 29, 2019, took oath as the Chief Minister of the State for the second time. His wife Kalpana Murmu Soren entered into politics soon after he went to jail and during his jail time, she won a by-poll and emerged winner on the Gandey Assembly seat. “It is a blessing of the people of Jharkhand and our party workers and off- course the order of the High Court that Hemant Soren ji is once again back as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. We have less time and we will keep working for the State. He will pace up the work as son of Jharkhand,“ said Kalpana Murumi Soren after the oath. Soren was born in Nemra, Ramgarh district of Bihar (now in Jharkhand). He has two brothers and a sister and his educational qualification is Intermediate from a school in Patna, Bihar. JMM workers celebrated the occasion by bursting fire-crackers outside Raj Bhavan. Reacting on the new government, Mr. Radhakrishnan said, “We go by the constitution but the constitution expects that we all have to address the problems of the poor people and that is what I am expecting from the new government.” West Bengal Assembly Speaker summons special session; says everything not in Governor’s hands West Bengal State Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee said on July 4 that “[everything is not in the hands of the Governor]( and called a special session of the House on Friday. The Speaker’s move comes amid the ongoing impasse over the swearing-in ceremony of the two newly elected Trinamool Congress MLAs, Sayantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain. Governor C.V. Ananda Bose had earlier invited the two MLAs to the Raj Bhavan for the oath-taking ceremony, but they refused it citing procedural norms. They later began a protest, demanding that the Governor administer the oath of office to them in the Assembly. The MLAs continued their sit-in on Thursday with placards that said, “We are waiting for the Governor.” Speaking to reporters, Banerjee said the Business Advisory Committee meeting has been scheduled for Friday noon, and the tenure of the session will be decided then. The special session is set to begin at 2 p.m.. The Speaker added, “If someone thinks that we are helpless, then he or she is wrong. The Assembly is not helpless, and everything is not in the hands of the Governor. You can’t just force everything down our throats; there are rules, regulations, and constitutional norms. All of us must abide by them.” The two MLAs, who got elected from the Baranagar and Bhagabangola seats in the recently concluded byelection, have not assumed their roles in the Assembly as their swearing-in ceremony has been delayed. The Speaker had previously sought President Droupadi Murmu’s intervention in the matter. He said, “The Governor is deliberately creating an impasse. He has turned it into an ego battle. This matter should be resolved so that the MLAs can take oath.” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had previously commented on the matter and said women “do not feel safe” at the Raj Bhavan and hence the MLAs had rejected the Governor’s offer to conduct the oath-taking ceremony at his residence. Banerjee was alluding to the harassment charges levelled against the Governor by a female staffer of the Raj Bhavan recently. Over 50 successful NEET-UG candidates move Supreme Court to stop retest for all Over 50 successful Gujarat-based NEET-UG candidates, including several who have been ranked first, have moved the Supreme Court [seeking a direction to restrain the Centre]( and the National Testing Agency from cancelling the controversy-ridden exam. They have sought a direction from the top court to the Union Education Ministry to probe, identify and take strict action against students and others who indulged in unfair practices like paper leak and impersonation in the NEET-UG exam conducted on May 5 this year. The fresh plea by 56 students has been filed days before a top court bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud is scheduled to hear as many as 26 petitions seeking reliefs like re-test and probe into the conduct of the examination plagued by allegations of malpractices. The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country. NEET-UG, 2024 was held across 4,750 centres on May 5 and around 24 lakh candidates appeared in the exam. Allegations of irregularities, including paper leaks, have led to protests in several cities and sparring between rival political parties. The pleas seeking cancellation of the exam, re-test and high-level probe are listed for hearing on July 8 in the SC. The fresh plea of Sidhharth Komal Singla and 55 other students was filed through lawyer Devendra Singh. It said “The Hon’ble court may further direct the respondents (Centre and the NTA) not to re-conduct NEET-UG... as that would not only be unreasonable and harsh for the honest and hardworking students but also would lead to the infringement of the Right to Education and therefore violative of Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution.” The plea sought a direction to the Centre and the NTA to identify and punish the examinees who adopted unfair means, identify the centres and take appropriate action where any “compromise to the established guidelines for NEET-UG 2024 examinations has been done.” PM Modi to visit Russia, Austria from July 8 to 10 Prime Minister [Narendra Modi will pay a two-day visit to Russia]( from July 8 to 9 to hold the 22nd India-Russia annual summit that will review the entire range of multifaceted ties between the two countries. After concluding his trip to Russia, Modi will travel to Austria, which will be the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to that country in 41 years, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. It will be Modi’s first trip to Russia in nearly five years. His last visit to Russia was in 2019 when he attended an economic conclave in the Far East city of Vladivostok. The annual summit between the Prime Minister of India and the President of Russia is the highest institutional dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership between the two countries. So far, 21 annual summits have taken place alternately in India and Russia. The last summit was held on December 6, 2021 in New Delhi. President Vladimir Putin had visited India to attend the summit. The summit saw both sides sealing 28 MoUs and agreements besides coming out with a joint statement titled “India-Russia Partnership for Peace, Progress and Prosperity”. Modi and Mr. Putin last held bilateral talks on the margins of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) at Samarkand in Uzbekistan on September 16, 2022. In the meeting, Mr. Modi had famously pressed Putin to end the conflict in Ukraine saying “today’s era is not of war”. In Brief: Hathras stampede: Bodies of all victims identified, handed over to kin, says District Magistrate The [bodies of all victims of the Hathras stampede have been identified]( and handed over to their families, District Magistrate Asish Kumar said in Hathras on July 4. A total of 121 people, mostly women, had died after the stampede at self-styled godman Baba Bhole’s ‘satsang’ in Hathras on July 2. Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Police said they have arrested six sevadars, including two women, in connection with the stampede. Sensex, Nifty close at fresh lifetime highs on gains in ICICI Bank, Infosys Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ticked higher to [close at fresh all-time high levels]( on July 4, following buying in market heavyweights ICICI Bank, Infosys and TCS amid a largely positive trend in global equities. The 30-share BSE Sensex scaled an intraday record high of 80,392.64 in early trade. The index pared most of the gains later due to volatility and profit-taking by investors at record levels. Sensex closed 62.87 points or 0.08% higher at 80,049.67, its all-time closing high. The broader Nifty also hit an intra-day record high of 24,401 in early trade before closing almost flat. The 50-issue index rose by 15.65 points or 0.06% to settle at a record 24,302.15 with 23 of its shares closing higher and 27 with losses. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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