Eleven ministers were sworn in as ministers in the Hemant Soren government in the State on Thursday. The oath-taking ceremony was held at the Raj Bhavan at 12:50 pm, where Governor Santosh Gangwar administered the oath of office to the ministers. From the JMM camp six legislators took the oath as ministers, while from Congress four MLAs took the oath, while from RJD one lawmaker took the oath as minister in the Hemant Soren cabinet.
The legislators from JMM who were made minister included Sudivya Kumar, Deepak Birua, Ramdas Soren, Chamra Linda, Yogendra Prasad and Hafijul Hasan.
From Congress’ side Deepika Pandey Singh, Shilpi Neha Tirkey, Irfan Ansari and Radhakrishna Kishore took the oath. RJD's Sanjay Prasad Yadav also took the oath.
“As the time is moving forward, everything is happening quickly. Government will get the direction now and we will move forward at a fast pace,” Chief Minister Hemant Soren said after the Jharkhand cabinet expansion.
The cabinet expansion follows Chief Minister Hemant Soren's massive victory in the recently concluded Jharkhand Assembly Election 2024. Last week, on November 28, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren took oath as Chief Minister.
Hemant Soren's JMM-led INDIA bloc won 56 seats in the 81-member state assembly while the BJP won 21 seats. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) fought in 41 assembly seats while its allies took the remaining ones - Congress (30 seats), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) (6), and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (4).
Six new faces have been inducted into the Hemant Soren government, while Deepika Pandey Singh, Irfan Ansari, Deepak Birua and Ramdas Soren have got ministerial positions for the second time and Hafizul Hasan for the third.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which emerged as a surprise element in the Jharkhand assembly elections with its candidates winning in four of the six seats where the party contested, got one ministerial berth.
In 2019, the RJD managed to win only the Chatra seat where Satyanand Bhokta had won.
The JMM got a total of seven berths, including CM Soren, in the 12-member cabinet.
The JMM contested 43 seats and won 34, the highest-ever constituencies bagged by the party in assembly polls.
An attempt has been made to maintain the caste equation in this cabinet. But the upper castes could not get a place in the cabinet. Four from ST, four from OBC, two from minority and one from SC have got ministerial posts. Deepak Birua, Chamra Linda, Ramdas Soren and Shilpi Neha Tirkey have been made ministers from ST quota. On the other hand, Sanjay Prasad Yadav, Deepika Pandey Singh, Yogendra Prasad and Sudhivya Kumar Sonu have been given place in the cabinet from OBC quota. Dr. Irfan Ansari and Hafizul Hasan have been given place from minority quota, while Radhakrishna Kishore has been included in the cabinet from SC quota.
All the five divisions have also been managed in the Hemant cabinet. The maximum number of four MLAs from Santhal Pargana have been given place in the cabinet. This includes Hafizul Ansari from Madhupur, Dr. Irfan Ansari from Jamtara, Deepika Pandey Singh from Mahagama and Sanjay Prasad Yadav from Godda. Apart from this, the CM himself also comes from Santhal. Congress MLA Radhakrishna Kishore has been included from Palamu division. Ramdas Soren and Deepak Birua from Kolhan, Chamra Linda and Shilpi Neha Tirkey from South Chotanagpur and Sudivya Kumar Sonu and Yogendra Prasad from Koyalanchal have been included in the cabinet.
