Ranchi, Jan 9 : Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren Saturday expanded his cabinet, inducting nine ministers and taking its total strength to 12 - the maximum allowed.

The nine new ministers - all of cabinet rank - were sworn in by Governor K. Sankaranarayanan at the Raj Bhavan.

Of the nine, three were from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) - Hemlal Murmu, Hussain Ansari and Mathura Prasad Mahto, three from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - Baidyanath Ram, Barkuwar Gagrai and Nilkanth Singh Munda, two from All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) - Chandra Prakash Chaudhary and Umakant Razak. Sudha Chaudhary is from the Janata Dal-United (JD-U). She is the only woman in the cabinet.

Jharkhand can have a maximum of 12 ministers including the chief minister. The JMM and BJP now have four ministers and the AJSU three. (IANS)