Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday won the trust vote in the state assembly with a comfortable majority of 45 MLAs.
He was sworn in as the chief minister last week after replacing Champai Soren, who had taken over the post following the former’s dramatic arrest in a land scam case around five months ago.
Hemant was granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court on June 28. Subsequently, Champai Soren tendered his resignation, paving the way for Hemant’s return to the chief ministerial post.
In the 81-member Jharkhand Legislative Assembly, the JMM-Congress-RJD alliance holds 45 seats, with the JMM having 27 legislators, the Congress 17, and the RJD one seat. The Opposition BJP has 24 MLAs.
Following the trust vote victory, Hemant is expected to expand his cabinet later on Monday as Governor C P Radhakrishnan is likely to be out of the state after July 9.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief had held a meeting with coalition partners on Sunday to discuss the cabinet expansion.