Hemant Soren Allocates Portfolios in New Jharkhand Cabinet

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren assigned portfolios to his new cabinet, retaining key departments for himself. High-profile roles were distributed among JMM and Congress members, with former CM Champai Soren and new faces like Deepika Pandey Singh receiving important portfolios. The new ministers began their duties after a successful trust vote.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday assigned portfolios to the ministers in his new cabinet, retaining key departments such as Home, Personnel, and Cabinet Secretariat for himself.

Former Chief Minister Champai Soren was given the Water Resources Department, in addition to Higher Education and Technical Education. JMM's Badiyanath Ram was appointed School Education and Excise Minister.

Congress' Deepika Pandey Singh, a new face in the 12-member cabinet, was allocated Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Disaster Management portfolios. First-time Congress minister Irfan Ansari received the Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, and Rural Works departments.

JMM's Dipak Birua, from the Ho tribe, was charged with SC, ST, OBC Welfare, and Transport departments. JMM's Bebi Devi, who won the Dumri bypoll after her husband's death, received Women & Child Development and Social Welfare portfolios.

Congress' Rameshwar Oraon was assigned the Finance, Planning, Commercial Taxes, and Parliamentary Affairs departments. Satyanand Bhokta of the RJD got Labour and Industries, while Congress' Banna Gupta was given Health and Food, Public Distribution, and Consumer Affairs departments. JMM MLA Hafizul Hasan took on Minorities' Welfare, Registration, Urban Development, Tourism, and Sports and Youth Affairs portfolios, while Mithilesh Kumar Thakur was given Drinking Water and Sanitation.

Soren retained the portfolios that were not allocated to anyone else. The new ministers took oath earlier in the day after the Hemant Soren government won a trust vote in the assembly amid an opposition walkout.

Soren returned as the 13th chief minister of Jharkhand on July 4 after his release on bail in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. He had resigned as CM shortly before his arrest on January 31 by the Enforcement Directorate, after which Champai Soren stepped in.

(With inputs from agencies.)