After the victory in Jharkhand, Hemant Soren government is going to be sworn in. 28th November i.e. today only Hemant Soren will take oath. The cabinet will be expanded later. Despite being a coalition government, political discussions are intense regarding Hemant taking oath alone.
The question is being raised that what is the reason that Hemant is taking oath alone instead of taking oath with the cabinet. In 2019, Hemant Soren took oath along with 3 ministers. At that time, two ministers from Congress quota had taken oath along with Hemant.
Why not cabinet expansion?
There are 4 parties included in the India alliance in Jharkhand. This time MLAs from all four parties have been elected. In such a situation, ensuring everyone’s participation is no less than a headache for Hemant Soren. There are total 12 posts in Jharkhand cabinet.
JMM wants to take 7 posts alone. For this, numbers are being used as the basis by the party. Like before, Congress is also adamant on 4 seats. One is claimed by MLA and one by RJD.
Due to lack of time, this problem has not been resolved yet. The floor meeting is proposed on 29th November. The discussion on Male’s share in this will be finalized. Similarly, a decision has to be taken on a ministerial post in RJD also.
These are also 3 reasons to take oath alone
Hemant Soren is the face- The entire Jharkhand election from the India Alliance was based around Hemant Soren. Was in charge of Hemant’s campaign. Hemant Soren was also the target of BJP. Hemant was rallying for JMM as well as allied parties.
Hemant and his wife Kalpana together addressed more than 200 rallies throughout the elections. In comparison, Congress and RJD leaders looked lagging behind. Big Congress leaders did not hold even 10 rallies in Jharkhand.
Now that the victory has been achieved, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is trying to make the oath taking ceremony a Hemant ceremony. The poster that has been printed regarding the invitation for the swearing-in has the picture of Hemant Soren alone.
Stronger than 2019- In 2019, Hemant Soren’s party had won 30 seats and JMM was 11 steps away from the magical figure of forming the government. He needed Congress at that time. It was difficult for the government to function without the support of Congress.
Now the circumstances have changed. Even though Congress has won 16 seats this time too, the party is not in the role of kingmaker in the government.
JMM, which wins 34 seats, can easily run the government with the support of RJD and ML. That’s why Hemant Soren’s party is not giving much priority to Congress.
The fight for number-2 is also the reason- Congress is trying to install one of its ministers on the number-2 position in Hemant cabinet. Congress has also asked for the post of Deputy CM for this, but Hemant Soren has rejected it outright.
It is being said that if any MLA from Congress takes oath as a minister along with Hemant, then he will automatically come to the number-2 position. JMM does not want to let this happen.
JMM’s effort is to administer oath to all the ministers simultaneously. However, Congress leaders are hopeful of getting some positive news till the last moment of swearing-in.