Jharkhand Cong MLAs discuss cabinet berths with Sonia, Rahul

New Delhi, Newly elected Congress legislators of Jharkhand met Sonia and Rahul Gandhi here on Friday amid talk of cabinet expansion in the state which is likely to take place this month.

The Congress has 16 MLAs and is in coalition with the JMM in the Hemant Soren-led government. Two of its legislators - Rameshwar Oraon and Alamgir Alam - took oath of office along with the chief minister on December 29. The Congress has got three more berths to be filled from its quota.

The party has decided to give representation to all sections of society - the women, forward castes and the OBC community - as it has to balance the caste and gender equation in the state.

There are 4 women MLAs from the party including the youngest Amba Prasad who can be the party choice for the cabinet while Deepika Pandey Singh is also a contender. The other two women MLAs are Mamta Devi and Purnima Singh.

Rajendra Singh could be the party choice for one of the ministers to placate the upper caste community. Similarly, Banna Gupta can be the face of the Vaishya community (OBC) to give proper representation to everyone in the state, said sources.

The Congress-JMM government took office last month. The JMM chief had also met Congress leaders in Delhi and had discussed governance issues and the cabinet expansion.