Pranav Pratyush n Ranchi
Responding to a query on the delay in expansion of his Cabinet, Chief Minister Hemant Soren said on Monday: "You give me names, I will expand the Cabinet." Though inadvertently, Soren made it clear that he has no qualms about filling up remaining three ministerial berths to complete the figure of 12 in the Cabinet, his hands are tied due to Congress' indecision on the matter.
Even after five weeks of Government formation in the State, the Congress appears to be in a huge predicament over choice of three names for ministerial berths. As per the understanding among coalition partners five ministerial berths are to be manned by Congress legislators; however, only two ministers from the Congress have taken oath of office till date. The JMM and the RJD have filled their quota with five and two ministers respectively from their side.
The predicament though appears quite genuine for the Congress, which is looking for legislators with 'clean' image and also taking into account representation from major sections of society. Among the fleet of 13 MlAs, Congress has already chosen one forward and one tribal leader. It has to choose three MlAs with clean image representing different sections of society from among the remaining 11.
Congress insiders revealed that the party high command has already given nod to two names -- Banna Gupta and Chandrashekhar Dubey - but they are stuck with the third name. Gupta represents the Vaishya community, while Dubey is a veteran labour union leader representing the general community. The Congress is keen on inducting a minority face as the fifth minister but it is not able to find a 'clean' image holder, sources said.
Gandey MlA Sarfaraz Ahmed's name had been proposed initially, but it was struck down given the fact that he was under CBI scanner for the alleged Rajya Sabha horse trading case of 2012, according to sources. Dhanbad MlA Mannan Mallik could have hit the jackpot had he been not involved in the firing incident that took place at Congress Bhawan in Ranchi during the first visit of State in-charge BK Hariprasad.
A political watcher, however, said that if the Congress could not find three MlAs of clean image so far, future of the Grand Old party of India must be not be bright in Jharkhand. "They (Opposition) do not have any moral right to put blame on us. You must remember how long did it take for the last coalition government to decide on cabinet expansion. We are in consultation with the senior leaders of the party and final cabinet expansion will take place in two - three days," said State Congress president Sukhdeo Bhagat on being asked about delay in cabinet expansion and Opposition's allegations that Congress was unable to find a clean face for the purpose. "Why two namesIJ We do not have two names. Whenever we announce, we will announce all the three names together. Just wait for a couple of days," said Bhagat when asked about finalization of Gupta and Dubey's names.
Interestingly, the delay in Cabinet expansion is giving rise to several allied problems. Some ministers are wary of change in their portfolios after the final expansion and are finding it difficult to give pace to work in their departments. "The new ministers are yet to gain confidence as many believe that they will undergo a portfolio reshuffle soon after the final round of cabinet expansion. Some of them are also unhappy with their portfolios and are requesting change 'through-proper'," said a senior leader of JMM requesting anonymity. In fact, Champai Soren has not even taken charge of his allocated departments.
Sources in the secretariat also revealed that some of the ministers have not been able to start 'proper work' in their respective departments due to the confusion related to portfolios. "Some first time Ministers need to gain confidence of bureaucrats as they are wary of signing on files," quipped a senior officer.
Surprisingly, the Raj Bhawan is also silent on the issue. "Former Governor Syed Sibtey Razi had shot off a letter to warn former Chief Minister Arjun Munda when the latter delayed the cabinet expansion citing the constitutional provisions which require that the cabinet strength will not be less than 12. But the present occupant of Raj Bhawan is simply looking the other way," alleged senior BJP leader Saryu Roy.