Ranchi, India — The Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand government expanded its cabinet on Thursday with the induction of 11 new ministers. State Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers at a ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan.
The expanded cabinet reflects the alliance’s significant victory in the recent state assembly elections, with representation from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Six JMM MLAs—Yogendra Prasad, Sudivya Kumar, Ramdas Soren, Hafizul Hasan, Deepak Birua, and Chamra Linda—were sworn in as ministers. Congress representatives Shilpi Neha Tirkey, Irfan Ansari, Dipika Pandey Singh, and Radha Krishna Kishore also took their oath, alongside RJD’s Sanjay Prasad Yadav.
The ceremony, which began at noon, also saw Protem Speaker Stephan Marandi take the oath first. Marandi, a senior JMM leader, was appointed in the first cabinet meeting on November 28 and will oversee the proceedings of the assembly until a permanent Speaker is elected.
The event was attended by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Congress General Secretary and State In-Charge Ghulam Ahmed Mir, and RJD National General Secretary Jayparkash Narayan Yadav, among other prominent leaders.
The new cabinet appointments reflect the power-sharing dynamics within the ruling alliance. The alliance, which includes JMM, Congress, and RJD, holds a comfortable majority with 56 seats in the 81-seat assembly. In the November elections, the JMM secured 34 seats, Congress won 16, and RJD claimed 4, defeating the BJP-led NDA, which won 24 seats.
Following the swearing-in, Chief Minister Soren embarks on his new term, focusing on development and governance under the alliance’s agenda. The state assembly will hold a four-day session from December 9-12, with key legislative discussions expected during the session.
