Hemant Soren took oath as the 13th chief minister of Jharkhand at 4.40pm on Thursday, barely a few hours after governor C.P. Radhakrishnan had invited him to form the government and gave him liberty to select a date for the swearing-in ceremony.

A senior JMM leader said that after getting the invitation from the governor around 12.30pm, Hemant had a discussion with a close group of leaders and decided to take oath on Thursday itself.

The council of ministers will take oath in a few days.

“We have little time left (for the Assembly polls) and decisions have to be taken at the administrative level in terms of execution and launching of welfare measures. Every day is precious. So it was decided that he would take oath today itself,” said the JMM leader, who is a member of the central committee.

Hemant’s wife Kalpana Murmu Soren, who was the face of the JMM during the Lok Sabha polls, affirmed the paucity of time for the execution of schemes.

“After the high court decision, Hemantji is again the chief minister. We have to do a lot more work in a fast mode as we have little time left,” she said.

Sources in the JMM said former chief minister Champai Soren “lacked strictness” in dealing with cabinet ministers and the bureaucracy.

“The performance of the departments of several cabinet ministers is not up to the mark. It came up during the recent review meeting chaired by Champai Soren last month. It seemed that they (bureaucracy and ministers) were not taking directives issued after the review meeting seriously. These were also among the factors responsible for Hemant Soren, who was initially reluctant to assume the chief minister’s role, to take it up despite knowing that it could be used by the BJP to play up the dynastic narrative,” said a JMM MLA, considered close to Hemant and Kalpana.

“Hemantji is aware of the potential of Champaida, especially in the Kolhan region, which sends 14 MLAs to the Assembly, and he would be the second man after the chief minister. Hemantji will decide if he will be made a deputy chief minister or a cabinet minister with an important portfolio,” said another senior JMM leader.

After taking oath, Hemant said that the coalition government had done all the work according to the interest of the masses.

“From 2019, the present coalition (JMM-Congress-RJD) has done all the work suiting the interests of the masses. During the political ups and downs, Champaida took forward those initiatives as I was in jail. Because of the court order, I could come out,” said Hemant, who is also the JMM’s executive president.

Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur said lots needed to be done for a better performance in the Assembly polls.