With the swearing-in of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and the date of the special session of Assembly being fixed, discussions have intensified as to when the Hemant cabinet will be expanded. However, it is also being speculated that the cabinet expansion can happen in a day or two.
Regarding the cabinet expansion, Jharkhand Congress State Vice President Manishanker said that just like in the previous government, this time too four ministers will be made from the Congress quota. There is a discussion about the cabinet that whether there is some expansion before the session or after the 12th, there will be four ministers from Congress. Which faces will be ministers from the Congress quota, this will be decided by the Congress high command.
JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey said that the CM has said that the cabinet expansion will happen within two to three days, we also hope so. Everything will be clear in two-three days. By then the cabinet will be announced. All the parties need to discuss with the leaders as well as discussions about giving representation by including everyone.
JMM sources said Kalpana, who won from the Gandey Assembly constituency with a margin of more than 17,000 votes, “could not be ruled out” as a minister on the state’s 12-member cabinet. She is among the 12 women MLAs who were elected in the Jharkhand Assembly elections 2024 — with three JMM, five Congress, and four BJP lawmakers.
“There will be two women ministers to honour the mandate that the state’s female voters gave the JMM-led government in the Assembly elections -- one from the JMM quota and the other from the Congress. Kalpana ji cannot be ruled out as the former at the moment. The final decision rests with Hemant babu,” a JMM source said.
Each of the five administrative regions of the state will be represented,” the source also said, adding that the cabinet was not likely to accommodate a deputy chief minister and “most of the portfolios would remain the same as in the previous government.”
Regarding the cabinet expansion, LJP MLA Janardan Paswan said that everyone in the alliance is involved in a tug of war regarding the cabinet. Everyone is making claims in their own way. There must be some trickery. The cabinet expansion should be done as soon as possible. CM Hemant Soren should worry about the development of the state. Let us tell you that with the government taking shape, the date of the assembly session has come out. In such a situation, the possibility has increased that the cabinet expansion can happen in a day or two.