Eleven Cabinet ministers were inducted into the Cabinet of Chief Minister Hemant Soren soon after he won the floor test in the Jharkhand Assembly with 45 votes on Monday.
Earlier in the day, the Hemant Soren government won the trust vote on the floor of the Assembly.
As soon as Mr. Hemant Soren started his speech, BJP MLAs shouted slogans and accused him of “murdering the Constitution”.
They are the ones who used money power and operation lotus for horse-trading,“ said Mr. Hemant Soren.
“The JMM did not trust its own MLA Champai Soren ji who was working hard and did great work in his five-month tenure.
Eleven Cabinet ministers were inducted into the Cabinet of Chief Minister Hemant Soren soon after he won the floor test in the Jharkhand Assembly with 45 votes on Monday.
The Ministers include six from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), four from the Congress and one from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan administered the oath of office and secrecy to them.
The JMM Ministers are Champai Soren, Baidyanath Ram, Deepak Biruwa, Mithilesh Kumar Thakur, Hafizul Hasan and Baby Devi, whereas the Congress Ministers are Rameshwar Oraon, Banna Gupta, Irfan Ansari and Deepika Pandey Singh.
The lone RJD MLA Satyanand Bhokta has been inducted into the Cabinet. Mr. Irfan Ansari and Ms. Deepika Pandey Singh are the first-time Ministers.
Mr. Irfan Ansari’s name was making the rounds from the Congress ever since Alamgir Alam was sent to jail in a commission scam. Badal Patralekh of the Congress has been dropped from the Cabinet.
Drops brother
With an eye on the Assembly elections due later this year, Mr. Soren has given a strong message by dropping his younger brother Basant Soren, who was earlier part of the Cabinet, and kept his wife Kalpana Murmu Soren, first-time MLA, aside so that the Opposition does not blame him of doing family politics.
In the Cabinet, he has given balanced representation to all the castes — be it tribal, Muslims or Other Backward Classes (OBC).
In the past 10 years, it is for the first time that any Chief Minister has used its full strength in the Cabinet. As per the rules, there can be maximum 12 Cabinet Ministers, including Chief Minister.
Earlier in the day, the Hemant Soren government won the trust vote on the floor of the Assembly. Forty-five Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led alliance legislators voted for the motion and there were zero votes against the motion after the Opposition walked out and did not take part in the voting. Mr. Hemant Soren moved the motion on which debate was held.
Slams BJP
During the debate, Mr. Hemant Soren lashed out at the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party accusing it of misusing the Central agencies. Mr. Soren was recently granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court in the alleged land scam case.
As soon as Mr. Hemant Soren started his speech, BJP MLAs shouted slogans and accused him of “murdering the Constitution”. The BJP MLAs interrupted him during his speech, by rushing into the well of the House.
“In the next Assembly election, even half of the BJP MLAs shouting today will not reach the Assembly. They use Central agencies and hatch conspiracy against those who oppose them. They are the ones who used money power and operation lotus for horse-trading,“ said Mr. Hemant Soren.
The former Chief Minister Champai Soren said whatever he could do within the five months, he did and whatever was the decision of the party, he followed.
During the debate, Leader of the Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri slammed Mr. Hemant Soren and the Congress.
“Hemant Soren had said that if his government is formed, then unemployment allowance will be given and if this does not happen, he will leave politics. The government is just cheating the people. The promise of five lakh jobs to the youth has not been kept and tribals are in danger. This government has broken all records of corruption. Incidents of rape and murder are happening,“ Mr. Bauri said.
During the debate, the BJP’s ally All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) MLA Sudhesh Mahato made a sarcastic remark saying that people were trusting Champai Soren ji but it was the JMM itself which did not trust and brought this motion.
“The JMM did not trust its own MLA Champai Soren ji who was working hard and did great work in his five-month tenure. Champai Soren ji was easily available and now once again the government has gone into monarchy,” Mr. Mahato said.
At present, the total strength of the Jharkhand Assembly is 81. Five seats are vacant, making it 76.
Portfolios have been allotted to the new Ministers and in the first Cabinet meeting, Mr. Soren proposed to form a Displacement Commission for the people affected due to mining.
