Raghubar Das takes oath as Jharkhand CM

Ranchi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Raghubar Das became the first non-tribal to take oath Sunday as the chief minister of Jharkhand.

Governor Syed Ahmad administered the oath of office and secrecy to Das, 60, at a football stadium here.

Four ministers -- three from the BJP and one from the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) -- also took oath.

The BJP ministers are Neelkanth Singh Munda, C.P. Singh and Louis Marandi.

Marandi defeated outgoing chief minister Hemant Soren at Dumka. The AJSU representative in the ministry is Chandra Prakash Chaudhary.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not attend the ceremony due to a thick fog in New Delhi. Home Minister Rajnath Singh too failed to make it, also due to bad weather.

A five-time legislator, Das was elected the BJP legislature party leader Friday.

Das joined the BJP in 1980, the year it was formed following the break up of the Janata Party. He has been the Jharkhand BJP president twice.

Among those who attended the event were Chief Ministers Raman Singh of Chhattisgarh and Devendra Fadnavis of Maharashtra.

Also present were central ministers M. Venkaih Naidu and Nitin Gandkari.

This is first time a non-tribal has become chief minister of Jharkhand since it was formed in 2000. All previous nine chief ministers were tribals.