Ranchi, Dec 5 (UNI) Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday expanded his cabinet by inducting 11 ministers from various constituent parties of the ruling INDIA bloc.
Governor Santosh Gangwar administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers during a simple ceremony at the Raj Bhavan here.
Six of those sworn in today were from Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), four from the Congress, and one from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
Soren had taken oath as chief minister on November 28.
The JMM legislators who found berths in the Ministry are Sudivya Kumar, Deepak Birua, Ramdas Soren, Chamra Linda, Yogendra Prasad and Hafijul Hasan.
The four Congress representatives are Deepika Pandey Singh, Shilpi Neha Tirkey, Irfan Ansari and Radhakrishna Kishore.
Sanjay Prasad Yadav was the sole representative from the RJD.
Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Soren said his government would now move ahead at a fast pace.
"After this expansion, my government will give a direction, and we will move ahead at a fast pace," he said.
The Soren-led INDIA bloc crushed a formidable challenge from the BJP-headed NDA to retain power in Jharkhand with a two-thirds majority in the recent state Assembly poll.
In the 81-strong Assembly, INDIA bloc secured 56 seats, with the NDA having to be content with 24 seats.
The remaining seat went to the Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha.
Among the INDIA bloc partners, the JMM finished with 34 seats, the party's best performance since the formation of Jharkhand.
Congress secured 16 seats, the RJD clinched four, while Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation triumphed in two constituencies.
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