11 Ministers Sworn in Under Hemant Soren's Cabinet in Jharkhand

Ranchi, Dec 5 (NationPress) Just six days after Hemant Soren was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand for an unprecedented fourth term, he expanded his cabinet on Thursday with the swearing-in of 11 ministers who took the oath of office and secrecy. The ceremony took place at Raj Bhavan at 12:50 p.m., where Governor Santosh Gangwar administered the oath.

The newly appointed ministers are Deepak Birua, Ramdas Soren, Hafizul Hasan, Sudivya Kumar Sonu, Yogendra Mahato, and Chamra Linda from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), alongside Deepika Pandey Singh, Irfan Ansari, Radha Krishna Kishore, and Shilpi Neha Tirkey from the Congress, and Sanjay Prasad Yadav from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Prior to this, senior JMM MLA Stephen Marandi was sworn in as the Protem Speaker of the Assembly.

The event held at Ashok Udyan, Raj Bhavan, saw the attendance of prominent figures, including Chief Minister Soren, Congress General Secretary and Jharkhand in-charge Ghulam Ahmed Mir, and RJD National General Secretary Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav.

This new cabinet features six fresh faces and five returning members. The new entrants include Sonu, Linda, and Mahato from the JMM, Kishore and Tirkey from the Congress, along with Sanjay Yadav from the RJD.

Notably, the cabinet has achieved commendable gender representation, with eight women from the ruling coalition securing seats in the Assembly elections, two of whom are now in cabinet roles.

The government has guaranteed representation from all five divisions of Jharkhand, with four ministers from Santhal Pargana, two each from Kolhan, South Chotanagpur, and North Chotanagpur regions, and one minister from Palamu division.

Additionally, the cabinet mirrors the socio-political diversity of Jharkhand, including four MLAs from Scheduled Tribes, one from Scheduled Castes, three from Other Backward Classes (OBCs), two from minority communities, and one from upper castes.

Previously, Chief Minister Soren took the oath alone on November 28. His four-party alliance achieved a significant victory in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, winning 56 seats in the elections conducted on November 13 and November 20, with the JMM claiming 34 seats, Congress 16 seats, RJD four, and CPI-ML two seats. The CPI-ML opted not to participate in the cabinet.

Seven ministers from Soren's last government were not included in this new cabinet. Notably, Rameshwar Oraon, the oldest minister from the previous term, was omitted. Baby Devi, Hafizul Hasan, Mithilesh Thakur, and Vaidyanath Ram lost their seats, while Satyanand Bhokta did not run for re-election. Champai Soren had already switched to the BJP before the elections.

Details regarding the distribution of portfolios among the new ministers are anticipated by Thursday evening.