Mr Arjun Munda of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday took oath as the eighth chief minister of Jharkhand at the head of a government that includes the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
Mr Munda, who has been chief minister twice earlier, was a JMM legislator before he joined the BJP ahead of the 2000 assembly election.
Mr Munda was administered the oath of office a third time by Governor, Mr M.O.H. Farook, at the Raj Bhavan.
He took oath along with Sudesh Mahto, president and legislature party leader of All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), and JMM legislature leader Hemant Soren, son of JMM chief Shibu Soren or Guruji.
Mr Munda first became chief minister in March 2003 and then in March 2005. At 42, he is the national general secretary of the BJP and a Lok sabha member from Jamshedpur.
BJP president, Mr Nitin Gadkari and senior leader, Mr L.K. Advani, were not present at the function.
Former BJP chief, Mr Rajnath Singh, attended as did BJP chief ministers, Mr Raman Singh of Chhattisgarh and Mr Ramesh Pokhriyal of Uttarakhand.
With Mr Munda taking oath, President Rule came to an end after nearly three and half months. It was imposed on June 1 after the resignation of Shibu Soren as chief minister May 31.
Mr Munda staked claim to form the government Sep 7 with support from JMM, AJSU, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and two independent legislators.
He is likely to seek the trust vote Sep 14. In the 81-member assembly, Mr Munda enjoys the support of 45 legislators.