Almost a month after taking over as Jharkhand chief minister, BJP leader Arjun Munda on Friday expanded his Cabinet, taking the total number of ministers in the state’s coalition government, including him and the two deputy chief ministers, to 12.
While the much-delayed expansion put an end to the growing impatience and murmurs of protest among legislators in the four parties in the government and also terminated plans by some Opposition parties to begin agitations, it still left scopes for reviving Jharkhand’s jinx of shaky governments. By including four new faces among the nine ministers who were sworn in by governor M.O.H. Farooq and ignoring some stubborn claimants, Mr Munda appears to have set a short rope for his government.
Mr Munda, who was sworn in as chief minister on September 11, had to frequently postpone the expansion of his Cabinet.
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Rajnath, in NY, down with dengue
New York, Oct. 8: Former BJP chief Rajnath Singh has contracted dengue fever and has been advised to stay here until it is safe for him to travel, his spokesperson said on Friday.
“He (Singh) is stable but the doctors will not let him leave until the trend is downwards,” Mr Singh’s spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said.
Mr Singh, who has been in New York for almost a week, went for further tests to the hospital on Thursday but later returned to his hotel near the United Nations, he said. The leader was supposed to leave New York for India on Thursday. Mr Singh had spoken at the UN about India’s concern on terrorism on Wednesday.
—PTI
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Kanshi death anniversary to be low-key affair
AGE CORRESPONDENT
lucknow
Oct. 8: The fourth death anniversary of BSP founder president Kanshi Ram will be observed in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday on an exceptionally low-key basis.
The enforcement of the model code of conduct due to the ongoing panchayat elections in UP has forced chief minister Mayawati to cancel all programmes and announcement slated for the day.
“The chief minister will offer floral tributes to late Kanshi Ram at the Samajik Parivartan Sthal where his statue is installed and also at the Kanshi Ram memorial. She may also visit the Prerna Sthal where the urn containing his ashes is kept. Besides this, there is no other major programme on the occasion,” said a senior official in the chief minister’s secretariat.