Lagatar24 Desk
Ranchi: Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren and 10 other leaders of the JMM-led coalition were sworn in as ministers in the Hemant Soren government on Monday. The oath-taking ceremony took place at the Raj Bhavan, where Jharkhand Governor C P Radhakrishnan administered the oath of office and secrecy.
Champai Soren resigned as Chief Minister on July 3, just a day before Hemant Soren took oath as the 13th Chief Minister of Jharkhand on July 4. The ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, senior politicians of the JMM-led alliance, and government officials.
The new faces in the 12-member cabinet, which includes the Chief Minister, are Congress’s Jamtara MLA Irfan Ansari, Mahagama MLA Deepika Pandey Singh, and JMM’s Latehar MLA Baidynath Ram. Notably, Ram’s name had been excluded from the list of ministers in the previous Champai Soren cabinet, an act he had described as an “insult.”
Ministers who retained their positions include Rameshwar Oraon and Banna Gupta of the Congress, as well as JMM’s Mithilesh Kumar Thakur, Hafizul Hasan, Dipak Birua, Bebi Devi, and RJD’s Satyanand Bhokta.
Earlier in the day, the Hemant Soren government won a vote of confidence in the assembly, despite a walkout by opposition members.
Hemant Soren was released from jail on June 28 after the Jharkhand High Court granted him bail in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. He had resigned as Chief Minister shortly before his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31.
The swearing-in marks a significant moment for the JMM-led coalition as it continues to navigate the political landscape of Jharkhand, with Hemant Soren at the helm.
