As eight ministers took oath in the new Champai Soren cabinet in Jharkhand, some Congress MLAs have expressed discontent with the expansion that allegedly excluded new faces which was their demand.
Congress MLA Dipika Pandey Singh claimed that they presented their thoughts before the cabinet expansion happened.
“Our demand was that if the new Government was being formed and the cabinet was being reshuffled, then new faces should have been given a chance,” Singh said while speaking to media.
#WATCH | Ranchi: On Jharkhand cabinet expansion, Congress MLA Dipika Pandey Singh says, "We had presented our thoughts before the cabinet expansion happened… Our demand was that if the new government was being formed and the cabinet was being reshuffled, then new faces should… pic.twitter.com/QLGdJ1PHY4
— ANI (@ANI) February 17, 2024
Congress MLA Anup Singh said that the MLAs have intimated the Pradesh Congress Committee president about their concern and their demand remains the same.
“We are 12 people in total. We have shared our concern with our PCC president through a letter. Our demand is the same as before,” Anup Singh said. “Attending the oath ceremony does not mean that we have forgotten our demands. We are only trying to let our party know about our concerns,” he added.
#WATCH | Ranchi: On Jharkhand cabinet expansion, Congress MLA Anup Singh says, "We are 12 people in total. We have shared our concern with our PCC president through a letter… Our demand is the same as before… Attending the oath ceremony does not mean that we have forgotten… pic.twitter.com/YLlXmqpTwB
— ANI (@ANI) February 17, 2024
After meeting the party MLAs after the swearing-in ceremony, Jharkhand Congress President Rajesh Thakur said that the party will discuss the matter. “They had expressed their feelings even before the oath-taking ceremony. They were unhappy, they had gone to the swearing-in ceremony at our request. We are aware of their feelings. We will discuss it,” Thakur said.
Meanwhile, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey slammed the JMM-led alliance in the state of not including a Scheduled Caste member in the new cabinet.
झारखंड के नए मंत्रीमंडल में एक भी अनुसूचित जाति के सदस्य नहीं हैं । यह है कॉंग्रेस,झामुमो व राजद की असली चेहरा
— Dr Nishikant Dubey (@nishikant_dubey) February 16, 2024
“There is not a single Scheduled Caste member in the new cabinet of Jharkhand. This is the real face of Congress, JMM and RJD,” Dubey said in a post on X. Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren on Friday allotted portfolios to ministers, by keeping the departments like home and personnel for himself.
CM Soren kept the Department of Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Rajbhasha, Department of Home, Department of Cabinet Secretariat and Vigilance. JMM leaders Mithilesh Kumar Thakur, Basant Soren – JMM leader and brother of former CM Hemant Soren, Hafizul Hasan, Bebi Devi, Deepak Birua, Congress’ Rameshwar Oraon, Banna Gupta and Badal Patralekh took oath as ministers during the swearing-in ceremony held at Raj Bhavan in Ranchi on February 16.
Earlier on February 2, Champai Soren was sworn in as Chief Minister of the State and on February 5, the Coalition Government won the floor test with a 47:29 majority. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha with 29 seats, and its ally Congress with 17 were confident of easily sailing through the trust vote.
(with inputs from ANI)
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