A BOLD RESTART

BUOYED BY A RESOUNDING ELECTORAL VICTORY, SOREN IS ACUTELY AWARE OF THE WEIGHT OF PUBLIC TRUST

- Amitabh Srivastava

A week can be an eternity in coalition politics. Hemant Soren's seven-day wait between taking oath as Jharkhand's chief minister on November 28 and unveiling his cabinet on December 5 speaks volumes. Yet, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) executive president seems to have embarked on his fourth term with a clear sense of purpose.

At his inaugural cabinet meeting on December 6, Soren issued a 17-point directive to his newly inducted team of 11 ministers. Chief among this was a strict instruction to scrutinise the backgrounds of personal secretaries and staff, ensuring that "controversial employees do not find a place in the minister's office". This cautionary stance reflects lessons learnt the hard way. In May, the Enforcement Directorate's arrest of Alamgir Alam, then rural development minister, had deepened the shadow already cast over the administration. The scandal erupted when investigators uncovered Rs 35 crore in cash from a flat linked to Alam's personal secretary Sanjiv Lal, and his domestic help Jehangir Alam.