Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren expands Cabinet, inducts 7 ministers.

Source – tribuneindia.com

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday expanded his one-month-old Cabinet, inducting seven ministers in the Council of Ministers.

Governor Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly inducted ministers in a simple ceremony at Raj Bhavan here.

Five of the new ministers are from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and two belong to the Congress.

The JMM-Congress-RJD coalition government assumed power in the state on December 29 last year, ousting the BJP-led regime.

Soren inducted Champai Soren, Haji Hussain Ansari, Jagarnath Mahato, Joba Manjhi, Mithilesh Kumar Thakur (all from the JMM), Banna Gupta and Badal Patralekh (both from the Congress).

Mahato and Thakur are first-time ministers and Manjhi had been a minister in previous NDA governments before she joined the JMM. The other four had been ministers in the previous UPA governments.

With five newly inducted ministers belonging to the JMM, the senior ruling party has six members in the council of ministers, including the chief minister, while the Congress has four and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) one.

Now the council of ministers has 11 members, leaving the scope to induct one more minister.

As per the constitutional provisions, Jharkhand can have a maximum of 12 ministers including the chief minister.

The previous Raghubar Das government had run the dispensation with only 11 ministers all through its five-year term.

It was the first expansion after Soren took oath as the 11th chief minister of Jharkhand on December 29, 2019 along with Congress leaders Alamgir Alam and Rameshwar Oraon and Satyanand Bhokta of the RJD.

The expansion of ministry was earlier scheduled to be held on January 24. It was postponed at the request of the chief minister in the wake of the killings of seven villagers in West Singhbhum district.

Hemant Soren sworn in as Chief Minister of Jharkhand.

Source – newsonair.com

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, JMM leader Hemant Soren took oath as the 11th Chief Minister of the state today. Governor Draupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Mr Soren at Morhabadi grounds in Ranchi. This is 44 year Soren’ second stint as Jharkhand Chief Minister. After taking the oath, newly sworn in Chief Minister called for people’s support to frame a new structure of the state. 

Along with Soren, Congress Legislature Party Leader Alamgir Alam state Congress president Rameshwar Oraon and only MLA of RJD Satyanand Bhokta were also sworn in as state cabinet ministers.

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee, Congress Chief Ministers Bhupesh Baghel, Ashok Gehlot, Former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi, ex-CM of Bihar Jitan Ram Manjhi, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav, Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav, CPI Chief D Raja, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechuri, DMK Chief M K Stalin, MP M K Kanimozhi, AAP MP Sanjay Singh were among the leaders who witnessed the historic swearing-in ceremony of the Opposition-led government. In the 81 member Assembly, JMM-Congress-RJD alliance has won 47 seats in the recently concluded Assembly elections. BJP has got 25 seats.

Meanwhile in its maiden Cabinet meeting held today, Hemant Soren led coalition government took several important decisions. It announced to take back all the cases lodged against accused in Pathalgadi movement and early filling up of all posts lying vacant in the state government. It was also decided that Fastrack courts will be soon set up in all districts for early redressal of cases related to women and child sexual harassment.

AIR correspondent reports that JMM Senior Leader Stephen Marandi from Maheshpur constituency will be nominated as the Protem Speaker for the new Assembly session of the government to be held from January 6-8, in 2020. All the newly elected legislators will also take oath of office and secrecy in the new Assembly session.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Hemant Soren on taking oath as Jharkhand Chief Minister. In a tweet, Mr Modi assured all possible support from the Centre for Jharkhand’s growth. 

Won’t implement CAA, NRC in Jharkhand: Hemant Soren.

Source – thehindu.com

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out at the Opposition here over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, Hemant Soren, the chief ministerial face of the grand alliance in Jharkhand, said if voted to power his government would review both the CAA and National Register of Citizens and not implement them if they had potential to trigger violence in the State.

“Both the CAA and NRC sound similar. They will be evaluated afresh. If we feel Jharkhand could plunge into violence, both CAA and NRC will not be put into practice,” Mr. Soren told The Hindu here on Monday.

When his attention was drawn to the BJP’s concern over illegal immigration of Bangladeshis into Jharkhand through West Bengal and the porous international border, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) executive president said, “The BJP came to power in many northeastern States highlighting the issue of infiltration of Bangladeshis. Now, the northeastern States are burning. They have backstabbed people there by bringing in CAA”

“This BJP-led government does not have any work to do. It has been raising divisive issues strategically and from time to time. The issues which can flare up people’s emotions are carefully chosen. Those are intended at dividing people on caste and religion lines leading to violence,” alleged Mr. Soren.

He observed, “They will not talk on unemployment, crumbling economy, losses being incurred by major public sector units, poverty and violence against women. The focus of the present government is only on dividing society as Hindu-Muslim and tribal and non-tribals.”

Alleging that that BJP always tries to reap political dividends through non-issues, Mr. Soren said, “In 2014, they came to power giving the wrong impression on the economy and law and order. When they miserably failed to find a solution to the issues they had highlighted, they came up with the revenge attack for the Pulwama terror strike. They stirred up people on India-Pakistan sentiments just before the 2019 elections.”

“Now, the BJP is preparing for the 2024 elections with these legal instruments. They have constructed a huge statue of Sardar Valabhbhai Patel although they do not have anything to do with the ideology of this great leader. They are now talking about construction of a grand Ram Temple at Ayodhya. They know how to hoodwink people without delivering on genuine problems,” he charged.

Addressing an election rally at Dumka, where the JMM chief is contesting, Mr. Modi on Sunday had said violence over CAA was being stoked by the Congress and its allies and it was wrong as the Bill was cleared by Parliament.

The JMM, Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal have stitched up a pre-poll alliance in Jharkhand where polling will come to end on December 20 and results will be declared on December 23.

“Corruption in 5 Years of BJP Govt in Jharkhand is an Issue,” says JMM president Hemant Soren.

Source – economictimes.indiatimes.com

What is the feedback that you have got from the ground after the first round of voting?
We are doing very well. In fact, you can ask BJP if they can name four seats which they are sure of winning in the first phase. On our part, we are confident and stronger on every seat. Wait for the results.

Would dilution of Article 370 and Ayodhya issue have an impact on Jharkhand polls? How important are national issues in this election?
BJP leaders are talking about Kashmir in Jharkhand. My question is: If you talk about Kashmir in Jharkhand, where would we talk about the unemployment, lower industrial growth and corruption in Jharkhand. People have given their mandate on national issues in Lok Sabha elections. Now, this is about Jharkhand, and 370 or Ayodhya is not an issue here.

What are the issues in the state?
The issue is rampant corruption in five years of BJP government. Right from Lokpal to development commissioner to other senior government officials, they all have flagged corruption and scam in the current government. The issue is slowdown in industrial areas which has resulted in major job losses. The issue is how this government is trying to grab the lands of tribals in the state.

Your party has a limitation in that it has influence in only certain parts of the state and the BJP has made inroads into the tribal segment as well…
We are going to surprise you with our performance this time, be it urban or rural region. We are getting support from all corners of the state. BJP is plotting with independent candidates in each constituency to divide votes. But voters this time are determined to topple the BJP government.

Despite being in alliance, the Congress and JMM came up with separate manifestos…
Every party has a right to bring out its manifesto. But when it comes to government formation, we will work out a common minimum programme.

Your party has extended support to rebel BJP leader Saryu Roy while Congress has put up a candidate against him…
In the alliance the seat has gone to the Congress and I can’t force them to leave the seat. My support to Roy is on moral grounds. He is not fighting against the CM but against corruption. At the same
time I am part of the grand alliance and am campaigning for alliance candidates across the state.

Why is Babulal Marandi not part of the alliance?
The state has only 81seats and every party has its specific requirement. We tried hard to convince him. However, he has the right to decide about his party and seats he would contest.

At Least Dozen MPs, MLAs in Touch With Me’: Ahead of Jharkhand Polls, Hemant Soren Calls BJP ‘Sinking Ship.

Source – news18.com

Former Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren is quite upbeat about the upcoming elections in Jharkhand. With just 11 days to go for polling day, Soren has claimed that at least one dozen MPs and MLAs from BJP are looking to jump ship and are in touch with him.

In an interview with News18, Soren spoke about whether the Supreme Court’s recent verdict on the Ayodhya land dispute will have any impact on the assembly polls, how talks with alliance partners are coming along, the effect of a five-phased election and veracity of claims that BJP is likely to collapse in the state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is soon expected to address rallies in Palamu, other national stalwarts of the party will also address the people of Jharkhand in campaign rallies where among other things, the Supreme Court’s recent Ayodhya verdict could be a talking point, does this worry you?

There is a place to talk about national issues. It is called Lok Sabha. That’s where people have given the BJP majority so that it can effectively deal with national issues. The upcoming elections are for the state of Jharkhand. If we also talk about national issues in these polls, then where will we talk about the issues of Jharkhand? In the campaign of Jammu and Kashmir or Gujarat?

Here people are dying of hunger, youths don’t have jobs, people don’t have money, banks are collapsing, infrastructure is nowhere. In all major indices, from hunger to education, Jharkhand has slipped under BJP Chief Minister Raghubar Das’ tenure. Since the state of Jharkhand was created, the last five years have been the worst, by far.

But you also raised these issues of hunger-related deaths, of forest rights etc, in Lok Sabha polls and they did not seem to have found any resonance with people.

It’s not as if these issues did not find any resonance with people. Look at the results of the five reserved Lok Sabha seats. BJP managed to just scrape through.

Why is your alliance (with Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal) dithering on the issue of declaring you as the CM face?

There is no confusion. Congress leader RPN Singh has clearly stated that Hemant Soren will be the CM face of the alliance. There is no confusion now. On the other hand you should ask the same question to BJP. Till very recently they used to say that Raghubar Das was their CM face. Why aren’t they saying this now? Why are they suddenly quiet on the issue? Ask them to clarify who their CM face is. BJP is a sinking ship.

Do you consider recent developments like their senior leader Sarayu Rai’s quitting the party, and their alliance partner AAJSU’s breaking ranks with BJP, as indicators?

It isn’t just that. You look anywhere and you’ll find that BJP’s Jharkhand unit is in a state of collapse. There is rampant infighting within BJP and open tussle with BJP’s alliance partners. Why are AAJSU, JD(U), LJP fighting these polls individually? There is pandemonium in BJP’s ranks. It is clear that they cannot carry alliance partners with them. And because of the arrogance of their top leadership, their old hands, who feel slighted, are trying to find a way out.

Are any of them in touch with you?

At least one dozen BJP MPs and MLAs have contacted me. They want to switch over. They know BJP is a sinking ship. Public sentiment is palpably against them.

How do you look at the decision by the Election Commission to conduct the polls over five phases?

For someone like us, a state political outfit, it is a huge challenge. For someone like the BJP, it wouldn’t matter much. They have unlimited resources and cadre which they shift wherever they want, however many times they want. Our worker cannot leave everything else and only do this. In other circumstances, it should have broken the morale of our workers but our morale is quite high. People are quite aggressive. Everyone wants to see the BJP out. There is no tolerance for the present dispensation.

And while as a political outfit we respect the decisions of the EC, to be honest, I don’t understand the logic of having the elections in five phases. The BJP kept talking about ‘double engine ki sarkar’ when they formed governments both at the Centre and the state. They talked about finishing the Naxals and bringing development to the state with double the speed. But now the EC itself has indicated, by conducting elections over five phases, that everything is not fine in the state; that the Naxal menace is far from over. They should admit that.

Almost every party is announcing reservation in poll campaigns these days. You have also announced 75% reservation in private jobs for youths and 50% reservation to women in jobs. Could you explain the logic behind this?

The decision to announce reservation in jobs for women isn’t new. I decided to do it when we were in power in our previous term but the successive BJP government decided against it. In our state women have been working really hard for their families. There are districts where women outnumber men. They are a significant working force. But when we see outside, we find, for similar job profiles, women from Kerala being referred to as ‘nurses’ and those from Jharkhand being referred to as ‘Dai’. It shames me. The same holds true for the youth, which today doesn’t have any jobs. If youths find jobs and get good education they will be able to help improve literacy levels in their districts and raise the employability of those around them as well. This is not about votes. This is about helping the future generations flourish.

Tejashwi Yadav had met you just before seat sharing was announced by you and the Congress. You had announced him as an alliance partner but RJD has reportedly been unhappy with seat distribution. Is RJD still on board?

RJD is very much part of the alliance. We are all working towards finalising our campaigning and soon you will see Tejashwi-jee campaigning with us.

BJP’s slogan this time is ‘Ab ki baar 65 paar’. How do you assess their position. Also have you set a target for the alliance?

Issuing and working in numbers are tropes of the business community. We have been a group of political activists. We don’t speak that language. We only talk about victory or defeat. We think we will win and win big.