Eye on polls, Hemant Soren does a balancing act in Cabinet: caste, regional equations to old, new faces

After being granted bail in the case by the Jharkhand High Court, Hemant returned to the helm as the CM on July 4, a day after Champai stepped down.

Hours after winning a trust vote in the state Assembly amid a walkout by the BJP-led Opposition Monday morning, Hemant constituted his new Cabinet, inducting the nominees of his key allies, the Congress and the RJD, in it. Eleven new ministers, including Champai, took the oath of office following which, in the evening, Hemant allocated portfolios to them, keeping key departments such as Home, Personnel and Cabinet Secretariat for himself.

The CM gave Water Resources and Higher and Technical Education portfolios to Champai. This was said to have defused the tension which was apparently brewing between Hemant and Champai since the latter was “initially reluctant” to give up the CM’s post. The JMM’s allies, especially the Congress leadership, reportedly played a crucial role in persuading Champai to make way for Hemant’s return to the top post in the run-up to the Assembly polls.

The 12-member Cabinet, including CM Hemant Soren, has five faces from the Schedule Tribes (STs) which make up 26.5% of the state’s

population; three from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) which form about 45%, two from Muslim community which accounts for 16%, one from the Dalit community which forms about 10%, and one from the upper caste.

On the regional front, the ministers represent all five administrative divisions of the state: Palamu, North and South Chotanagpur, Santal Pargana and Kolhan.

A source in the government said: “This seems to be a balanced Cabinet. However, backward leaders have less representation in it vis-a-vis their 45% share in the state’s population. The reason is partly that a large chunk of the OBC population are also BJP voters. With 28 seats being ST reserved, thrust has been given to the tribal representation in the Cabinet.”

Hemant picked three new ministerial faces, including two from the Congress, Mahagama MLA Dipika Pandey Singh and Jamtara MLA Irfan Ansari, and one from JMM – Latehar MLA Baidyanath Ram.

One minister each from the Congress and the JMM have been dropped from the new Cabinet, including Hemant’s younger brother and Dumka MLA, Basant Soren, and the Congress’s Badal Patralekh.

A senior Congress leader told The Indian Express: “Dipika’s inclusion was primarily done for two reasons. First, state Congress needed a woman representation and also that her name was announced as a Lok Sabha candidate but later withdrawn. However, she put the party first, and did not do anything against the party. Badal Patralekh was dropped because the party workers from several areas have been complaining about his performance.”

A JMM leader said, “The exclusion of Basant Soren was a gesture that Champai Soren needed to be included in the Cabinet.”

He claimed, “The entire Champai Soren row was a pressure tactic to get the post of Deputy CM, but it did not work. However, for his loyalty and being a senior leader from Kolhan area, Champai had to be included in the Cabinet and it was a good gesture.”

The JMM leader went on to say, “As far as Basant is concerned, it is good optics for Hemant not to elevate his family MLAs to the post of ministers, keeping in view the dynasty allegations. Even Basant seemed unfazed by this decision as the entire family drove together to the Raj Bhavan for the oath-taking ceremony.”

Other ministers are the JMM’s Mithilesh Thakur, Hafizul Hasan, Dipak Biruwa and Baby Devi; the Congress’s Rameshwar Oraon, Banna Gupta; and the RJD’s Satyanand Bhokta.

CM Soren has allocated Finance and Parliamentary Affairs to Oraon. Irfan Ansari will be in charge of Rural Development, Works, and Panchayati Raj, while Baidyanath has been allotted School Education and Literacy and Excise. Dipika has been allocated Agriculture and Disaster Management departments, while Banna has been given Health and Food and Civil Supplies portfolios.