Hemant Soren will take oath as Jharkhand chief minister on November 28, he said after meeting governor Santosh Kumar Gangawar in the capacity as leader of the newly elected MLAs of INDIA bloc and staking claim to form the government.
In the new cabinet, Soren is expected to give chance to several new comers as at least four ministers from his incumbent cabinet had lost in the polls. Several top INDIA bloc leaders are expected to participate in the oath taking ceremony, party leaders said.
“We have tendered my resignation from the present government and staked our claim to form a government. Governor gave me the responsibility of acting chief minister and invited to form the government. The RJD, Congress and Left parties were with me. We have finalised the oath taking ceremony on November 28,” Soren said without informing who, other than him, will take oath on that day and what will be the venue.
In a statement, Raj Bhawan said, “the chief minister Hemant Soren met Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar today at Raj Bhavan and submitted his resignation from his post. The Governor accepted his resignation and asked him to continue discharging his responsibilities till an alternative arrangement was formed. After this, delegations of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and CPI (ML) submitted letters of support from the elected MLAs for forming a government in Jharkhand under the leadership of Hemant Soren at Raj Bhavan. The Governor appointed Hemant Soren as the nominated Chief Minister of Jharkhand and invited him to form the government.”
JMM spokesperson Dr Tanuj Khatri said the oath taking ceremony will take place at Morabadi ground refusing to comment on number of ministers who will take oath with Soren.
In this assembly election, the INDIA bloc of JMM, Congress, RJD and CPI ML won 56 seats while NDA of BJP, AJSU, JDU and LJP won 24 seats. One seat was won by the Jharkhand Krantikari Loktantrik Morcha (JKLM) which is not a member of any alliance.
JMM has emerged as the largest party by winning 34 seats. BJP is in second place with 21 seats. Congress is in third place with 16 seats and RJD is in fourth place with 4 seats and CPI (ML) is in fifth place by winning 2 seats while Janata Dal United, AJSU, Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) are in sixth place by winning one seat each.
Before staking claim, Soren held a four-hour-long meeting at the CM’s official residence on Kanke Road, in which he was elected as the INDIA bloc legislative party leader.
“During a four-hour-long meeting which started at 11am, Hemant Soren was chosen leader of INDIA bloc MLAs in Jharkhand. Discussion on cabinet formation also took place. Congress state in-charge Ghulam Ahmed Mir, Congress state president Keshav Mahato Kamlesh, former president Rajesh Thakur and leaders of allied parties were also present in the meeting,” a JMM leader said without elaborating details.
As Hemant Soren staked a claim to form the government, discussion started among the alliance partners on who would be the ministers in the new cabinet of Hemant Soren.
At least four ministers in the incumbent Hemant Soren cabinet —- Banna Gupta, Baby Devi, Baidyanath Ram and Mithilesh Thakur — lost in the polls.
A senior Congress leader said that discussions have started within the party on the probable ministers.
“There is a discussion about the claim of Kumar Jayamangal alias Anup Singh, who won the election from Bermo, and Pradeep Yadav, who won from Poraiyahat, in the cabinet. Dr. Rameshwar Oraon, who was the finance minister, is likely to be inducted. There is a discussion about the inclusion of Deepika Pandey Singh from the women’s quota and Irfan Ansari from the minority quota in the cabinet,” said a Congress leader.
A RJD leader said the party will stake claim for more than one minister. RJD has got four seats as against two last time. Sanjay Singh Yadav, who won from Chhatra, Sanjay Yadav from Godda and Suresh Paswan from Deoghar can be contenders. However, the final decision on who will get a place in the cabinet will be taken by Tejashwi Yadav,” he said.
A JMM leader said Hemant Soren was discussing cabinet formation with the allies and will decide after deliberations with top leaders of the alliance partners.
“CM Hemant Soren himself will decide who will be included in the cabinet from JMM. The discussion is that Deepak Birua and Hafizul Ansari can continue. Apart from this, the names that are being discussed include Ramdas Soren, Dashrath Gagrai, Mathura Mahato, Sabita Mahato, Anant Pratap Dev, Stephen Marandi, Hemlal Murmu and Louis Marandi,” the JMM leader said.
