Berth pangs: Soren Cabinet still in embryonic stage

It's been nine days since the Jharkhand Assembly election results were declared, with the ruling alliance scoring a landslide. However, the Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Hemant Soren is yet to take shape, as I.N.D.I.A bloc allies have not yet decided who will be included in the ministry.

The major stumbling block in the Cabinet expansion, it is reliably learned, is the Congress, one of the key partners in the JMM-led alliance. The grand old party has not yet decided who will represent it in the Hemant Soren government. Secondly, the number of Congress MLAs to be sworn in as ministers has not been finalised.

In the previous regime headed by Hemant, the Congress had four ministers, while the RJD had one, besides six ministers from the JMM, excluding the chief minister himself.

In the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, any government can have a maximum of 12 ministers, including the CM. 

Bone of contention

In the previous regime, a formula was worked out where one minister was appointed for every four MLAs. This resulted in the JMM having six ministers, Congress four and the RJD one. However, the 2024 poll results gave the JMM-led alliance 56 seats, leading the JMM top leadership to suggest that this time there will be one minister for every five MLAs. This essentially means 11 ministers, in addition to Hemant Soren as CM.

The JMM has won 34 seats, Congress 16, RJD four and the CPI-ML two. Based on this arithmetic, the JMM is entitled to seven ministers, Congress three and the RJD one.

This calculation has not gone down well with the Congress. Buoyed by its better performance this time, the party had made a feeble attempt to demand the post of Deputy CM, which was outrightly rejected by Hemant Soren. The Congress then suggested that, given its increased strength compared to 2019, it should get an additional ministerial berth. This proposal was also reportedly shot down by the JMM leadership.

In the deliberations between the Jharkhand CM and the Congress top leadership in New Delhi, and later with the Jharkhand Congress president, Hemant suggested that the Congress get three ministerial berths and a deputy speaker’s post. The RJD would get one minister, while the JMM would have seven ministers.

The fourth ally, the CPI-ML, has categorically stated that it won’t join the Hemant government. 'We contested four seats and won two. Already there are so many claimants for the ministerial berth. We don’t want to join the ministry as of now,' clarified CPI-ML general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya.

Notably, Hemant, soon after his swearing-in on November 28, decided to convene the Assembly session from December 9, where Pro-tem Speaker Stephen Marandi would administer the oath to the newly-elected MLAs. This will be followed by the trust vote. 'We expect the Cabinet would be expanded in the next couple of days, much before the Assembly session begins,' averred a Congress source.