"Grief-stricken" at killing of villagers, Soren postpones

The expansion of the Hemant Soren ministry slated for Friday has been postponed after the chief minister requested Governor Droupadi Murmu in this regard saying he is "grief-stricken" at the killing of seven villagers by "Pathalgarhi" movement supporters in West Singhbhumj district. This was to be the first cabinet expansion of the Soren government which assumed power on December 29.

Soren, who had met the governor in the morning seeking to expand his ministry on Friday, again called on Murmu in the evening soon after returning from Burugulikera where seven people were killed allegedly for opposing the "Pathalgarhi" movement, and requested her to postpone the programme. An official release then said the chief minister apprised the governor of the horrific incident and that he was pained at the incident, and requested to shift the date.

Later at night, Raj Bhavan sources said, "The cabinet expansion has been postponed on the request of the chief minister. A new date has not been set as the CM has to recommend another date." The Raj Bhavan had earlier in the day confirmed that the expansion of ministry will be taken place at 1 pm on Friday. After meeting the governor in the evening, Soren said, "I met the governor and told her about the incident in detail.

The tragic incident has hurt my mind. It is against humanity to hold the programme during the mourning period. So, I urged the governor to avoid tomorrow." As per the Constitutional provisions, Jharkhand can have a maximum of 12 ministers, including the chief minister. On December 29, three ministers---two from the Congress and one from the RJD--had taken oath along with Soren..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)