Although Chief Minister Hemant Soren has announced a Cabinet expansion within three to four days, there are a lot of hitches involved.
Even after 18 days of taking oath of office, Soren has not been able to expand his Cabinet to its full strength of 12. There are just two Ministers — one from the Congress and another from the RJD — at present.
According to sources close to Soren, Cabinet expansion has become a tough task for the coalition, given the fact that there is a lot of internal bickering in both the JMM and Congress over berths. To add to the woes, the independents and their self-proclaimed leader Bandhu Tirkey are exerting pressure for representation in the Government.
According to the formula agreed upon by the JMM and Congress, each would have five Cabinet berths, with two Ministers from the RJD, of which Suresh Paswan is almost final. However, the two partners have to solve a lot of equations based on caste, community and other parameters.
For the JMM, choosing four names from the list of 16 (Hemant is CM and Shashank Shekhar Bhokta is Speaker) is not an easy task. Former Minister Haji Hussain Ansari faces a tough fight from Pakur MlA Akil Akhtar. Similarly, former Minister Mathura Mahto is rivalled by Vidyut Varan Mahto. litipara MlA Simon Marandi is also eyeing a berth as he has remained close to Guruji (Shibu Soren). Others vying include Vishnu Bhaiya, Jai Prakash Bhai Patel and ex-Minister Champai Soren.
On the other hand, Congress too has a long list of aspirants. Veteran leader Chandrashekhar Dubey, MlAs Banna Gupta, Geetashree Oraon, KN Tripathi, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saurabh Narayan Singh and Mannan Mallik are some names doing the rounds.
However, Congress insiders confided that any decision would take place only after Hemant meets the high command in Delhi. “If the Chief Minister is leaving for Delhi early this week, you may expect Cabinet expansion by Saturday. Else, it will be postponed till next week,” said a senior Congress leader.
A JMM insider said the party’s core committee would finalise names in a couple of days, get names from the Congress too, and then swear in the new Ministers.
The dispensation has decided against giving berths to the seven independent MlAs supporting it, despite their best efforts. The final list is bound to make an interesting read, notwithstanding the wringing of hands and brain-storming on at present.