Baby Devi, the widow of the state's former education minister Jagarnath Mahto, will be sworn in as the new cabinet minister of Jharkhand on Monday.

A senior party functionary of the JMM confirmed the news though no official announcement was made in this regard till the filing of this report.

"It's confirmed," JMM general secretary and state coordination committee member Vinod Pandey said when contacted, adding she would take oath on Monday.

According to the information available, governor C.P. Radhakrishnan will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Baby Devi at Raj Bhavan in Ranchi on Monday afternoon.

Devi is a housewife and not an MLA at present. As such, she has to be elected as a member of the Assembly to continue as a minister

Her husband Jagarnath Mahato, a prominent leader of the JMM, got elected as an MLA from the Dumri Assembly constituency in Giridih district four times in the past. He enjoyed considerable support from people there.

He had to undergo lung transplant following Covid related complications in the past but could not fully recover and required to seek medical attention often. He was once again shifted to Chennai for treatment earlier this year and finally died at a hospital there on April 6.

By inducting Mahto's widow in his cabinet, chief minister Hemant Soren is trying to score a point against the Opposition, observers feel. He also did the same in the past when another minister, Haji Hussain Ansari, had died and Soren inducted the deceased minister's son, Hafizul Ansari who was not an MLA that time, as a minister of the state.