Jharkhand: Congress Reportedly Demands Posts Of Deputy CM & 4 Cabinet Ministers; Senior Party Leaders Deny Claims

Ranchi: Even as JMM leader Hemant Soren is set to be sworn in as chief minister of Jharkhand on November 28, the Congress party has reportedly demanded posts of deputy chief minister and four cabinet ministers. Senior Congress leaders, however, are denying that the party had made any demand for the post of deputy chief minister.

Statement Of Jharkhand Congress President Keshav Mahto Kamlesh

Jharkhand Congress president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh told FPJ that there were four ministers from Congress in the last cabinet also, adding that the quota of ministers was decided on the number of MLAs a party had in the assembly. He said that a new situation had emerged this time after CPI (ML) joining the I.N.D.I.A bloc and everything would be decided in the meeting of the alliance. Contrary to the speculation that Congress was insisting on the post of deputy chief minister, Mahto vehemently denied that his party had made any such demand on the JMM leadership.

Congress General Secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir On Buzz Surrounding Deputy CM's Post

When reporters asked to comment on the buzz about the deputy chief minister’s post, Congress general secretary and the party’s in charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir said, “Our immediate priority is to elect the leader of the alliance. Once the Leader of the House is chosen, an authorised delegation will engage with coalition leaders to discuss further matters, including ministerial berths.”

Sources said that Congress could hope of securing four ministerial berths as it won 16 seats in the assembly election. As per formula, one ministerial berth could be given to a party for every four MLAs. The RJD, which won four out of six seats, also reportedly wants two ministerial berths this time. On the other hand, CPI (ML)’s Kumar Parvez told FPJ that his party would not join the government as it was part of the CPI (ML)`s all-India policy.

CPI (ML) had not joined the previous grand alliance government in Bihar even as it had 12 MLAs. In the assembly election, the INDIA bloc of JMM, Congress, RJD, and CPI ML won 56 seats while NDA of BJP, AJSU, JDU, and LJP (RV) won 24 seats. One seat was won by the Jharkhand Krantikari Loktantrik Morcha (JKLM) which is not a member of any alliance.