After eight leaders of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Congress took the oath of office as ministers on Friday, Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren increased the size of his cabinet.
A ministerial oath was taken by JMM leaders Mithilesh Kumar Thakur, Basant Soren (JMM leader and brother of former Chief Minister Hemant Soren), Hafizul Hasan, Bebi Devi, Deepak Birua, Congressman Rameshwar Oraon, Banna Gupta, and Badal Patralekh.
The swearing-in ceremony took place in Ranchi at Raj Bhavan.
12 ministers in the most that allowed to take oath
The state’s 12th Chief Minister, Champai Soren, 67-year-old JMM leader, took office on February 2 following the arrest of his predecessor, Hemant Soren, by the Enforcement Directorate on suspicion of money laundering.
Two ministers also took an oath on the same day: Satyanand Bhokta of the RJD and Alamgir Alam of the Congress. The Chief Minister is one of a maximum of 12 ministers that Jharkhand may have, per constitutional provisions.
The coalition government of Jharkhand, led by CM Champai Soren and led by the JMM, was voted in with confidence earlier on February 5. The 81-member assembly saw 47 legislators vote in favour of the motion of confidence and 29 MLAs against it.
List of New Cabinet Ministers in Jharkhand
Champai Soren (JMM)
- Chief Minister of Jharkhand
- Department of Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Official Language
- Home (including Prison) Department
- Cabinet Secretariat and Monitoring Department
- Other departments which are not allocated to other ministers
Alamgir Alam (Congress)
- Rural Development Department
- Rural Affairs Department
- Panchayati Raj Department
Satyanand Bhokta (RJD)
- Labor Employment Training and Skill Development Department
- Industry Department
Dr Rameshwar Oraon (Congress)
- Finance department
- Planning and Development Department
- Department of Commerce
- Department of Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs
Baby Devi (JMM)
- Women Child Development and Social Security Department
Hafeezul Hasan (JMM)
- Minority Welfare Department
- Registration Department
- Tourism, Art-Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs Department
Basant Soren (JMM)
- Road construction department
- building construction department
- Department of Water Resources
Mithilesh Thakur (JMM)
- Drinking Water and Sanitation Department
- Excise and Prohibition Department
Badal Patralekh (Congress)
- Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Co-operation
Banna Gupta (Congress)
- Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare Department
- Disaster Management Department
Deepak Birua (JMM)
- Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Caste and Backward Class Welfare Department (except Minority Welfare)
- Transport Department
Majority with JMM
47 MLAs make up the majority alliance in the Jharkhand assembly: JMM 29, Congress 17, and RJD 1. There are 26 members of the BJP and 3 of the AJSU Party. Aside from two Independents, the NCP and CPI (ML) each have one lawmaker. One additional member has been nominated.