Jharkhand Election Result: Will Kalpana Soren get a ministerial berth in husband Hemant Soren’s cabinet?

Hemant Soren will be sworn in as Jharkhand Chief Minister for the fourth time on November 28, during a ceremony scheduled in Ranchi’s Morabadi Ground.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)-led INDIA bloc alliance secured a thumping majority by winning 56 of 81 Assembly seats in the recently held state polls. The JMM, led by Soren, won 34 seats, the Congress won 16 seats, and the RJD bagged four seats. The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA won 24 seats, with the saffron party bagging 21 seats.

Soren and his wife, Kalpana Soren flew to New Delhi to invite senior INDIA bloc leaders for the oath-taking event. The chances of Soren’s wife, Kalpana, who won the election from the Gandey Assembly constituency with a margin of more than 17,000 votes, to be inducted into her husband’s cabinet have not been ruled out yet. The Jharkhand government can have a 12-member cabinet.

Kalpana is among the 12 women MLAs elected to the assembly at this time. She defeated BJP's Muniya Devi from the Gandey Assembly seat by a margin of 17,142 votes. Sources said that she is not very keen to be part of the Jharkhand Cabinet, but the chief minister-designate will take the final call.

“There will be two women ministers to honour the mandate that the state’s women voters gave the JMM-led government in the Assembly elections – one from the JMM and the other from the Congress. Kalpana ji cannot be ruled out; the final decision rests with Hemant babu,” a source within the JMM was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

Shot to limelight when Soren was in jail

Kalpana Soren, 39, shot to the limelight for the first time after Hemant Soren was arrested in an alleged land scam case in January 2024. With Hemant in jail, Kalpana became the JMM face in the INDIA bloc's campaign in the Lok Sabha elections in Jharkhand. She also won a bypoll from the Gandey seat in June.

According to reports, as many as six ministers from the JMM, the Congress, and the RJD are expected to take oath with Hemant Soren on Thursday.

Apart from INDIA bloc leaders, the Soren couple also invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to attend the event in Ranchi. The party has also send invite, via email, to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who was the co-incharge of the BJP’s election campaign in Jharkhand.

Soren’s Fourth Oath-Taking

Soren will take the oath as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand for the fourth time. He was sworn in as the Chief Minister in July 2013 with support from Congress and RJD after the President's rule was removed from the state. He was again elected in December 2019 and sworn in on December 29.

However, on January 31, 2024, Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on allegations of a land scam. He quit, and his then-close aide, Champai Soren, took over as CM. Soren got bail and was released from jail in June 2024. 

Champai Soren resigned as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand on July 3, 2024 and Hemant Soren was again sworn-in as Chief Minister of Jharkhand on July 4, 2024.