The Hindu : Front Page : Soren back in Union Cabinet

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Sunday, Nov 28, 2004

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Front Page

Soren back in Union Cabinet

By Our Special Correspondent

THE SMILE IS BACK: The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, with the newly-inducted Union Minister, Shibu Soren, at the swearing-in-ceremony in New Delhi on Saturday. — AP

NEW DELHI, NOV. 27. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief, Shibu Soren, was reinducted into the Union Cabinet today. He also got back his old portfolio — Ministry of Coal — but lost the other half of the old charge, Ministry of Mines.

The newly separated Ministry of Mines has now been allocated to the Congress' Sis Ram Ola, whose portfolio, Labour and Employment, has, in turn, been assigned to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief, K. Chandrasekhara Rao, a Minister without portfolio so far.

The allocation of work among these three Ministers was announced in a Rashtrapati Bhavan communiqué.

Mr. Soren was administered the oath of office and secrecy by the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, at a brief ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan this afternoon. The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and his Cabinet colleagues attended the ceremony.

Mr. Soren left the Cabinet on July 24 last after a Jharkhand court issued a non-bailable warrant against him in a 20-year-old massacre case. Mr. Soren made his own continuation in the Cabinet untenable by going underground. He was able to secure a bail after spending over a month in judicial custody. He has been on bail since September 8 last.

Manmohan hopeful

After the swearing-in, Dr. Singh told reporters that he did not think that the Bharatiya Janata Party would make an issue of Mr. Soren's return. "The basis because of which he left the Government does not exist," he said. Dr. Singh hoped that the winter session of Parliament would run smoothly, and that "the Opposition will be accommodated to the maximum possible extent." "If the Opposition wants to raise any issue, the Government will have no hesitation in discussing it and it should be debated in Parliament."

Happy, says Soren

After taking charge of the Coal Ministry, Mr. Soren said he was happy being back in the Government. "I belong to the coal belt of the country and there is no reason why I should be unhappy."

Mr. Soren joined issue with the BJP, which he accused of "engineering" his resignation in the first place and terming him an "absconder." "I have come back after fighting it out and my reinduction is no surprise for me," he added.

`Law will take its own course'

Mr. Soren was asked about the possibility of the BJP raising again the issue of "tainted" Ministers. He replied: "The BJP is issueless now and is at liberty to say anything. When I am not tainted, then what they say does not matter. I am the only tribal leader crusading for the rights of the adivasis. I have struggled throughout my life for ensuring their rights, so there were cases against me. But, be it me, the Prime Minister or the Sankaracharya, the law will take its own course."

Mr. Soren's reinduction has now paved the way for a Congress-Jharkhand Mukti Morcha alliance against the incumbent BJP in the Jharkhand Assembly elections scheduled for February/March next year.

The JMM leadership had been pressuring the Congress to take Mr. Soren back in the Cabinet before talks could begin on firming up the Congress-JMM alliance.

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