- West Bengal cabinet expands Monday, 35 new ministers sworn in.
- Governor Ravi administers oath to Adhikari’s expanded council.
- Expansion follows BJP’s historic election victory, ending TMC rule.
- New cabinet reflects regional, social representation goals.
The first BJP-led government in West Bengal will undergo a major cabinet expansion on Monday, with 35 MLAs set to be inducted into Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s council of ministers.
Governor R N Ravi will administer the oath of office to the new ministers at Lok Bhavan in Kolkata at 11 am. The swearing-in ceremony comes nearly three weeks after Adhikari took oath as chief minister following the BJP’s historic victory in the Assembly elections.
“Tomorrow, a full-fledged Council of Ministers of the nationalist government elected by the people of West Bengal will be constituted,” Adhikari said in a social media post on Sunday.
The BJP secured 208 seats in the 294-member Assembly, ending the Trinamool Congress’ 15-year rule and paving the way for the saffron party’s first government in the state.
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Cabinet Strength To Reach 41
At present, the West Bengal cabinet consists of six members, including Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Senior BJP leaders Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Nisith Pramanik, Ashok Kirtania and Kshudiram Tudu were sworn in alongside Adhikari on May 9.
With the induction of 35 more legislators, the strength of the council of ministers will rise to 41, just three short of the maximum permissible limit for a 294-member Assembly.
The expansion follows a series of consultations between the state BJP leadership and the party’s central leadership in New Delhi over the composition of the ministry.
Check Probable List Of Ministers
While the BJP has not officially released the names of the incoming ministers, party sources indicated that the following MLAs and leaders are among those likely to be inducted into the expanded cabinet:
- Shankar Ghosh (Siliguri)
- Malati Rava Roy (Tufanganj)
- Manoj Oraon (Kumargram)
- Bishal Lama (Kalchini)
- Deepak Barman (Falakata)
- Anandamay Barman (Matigara-Naxalbari)
- Tapas Roy (Maniktala)
- Shardwat Mukherjee (Bidhannagar)
- Purnima Chakraborty (Shyampukur)
- Indranil Khan (Behala West)
- Jagannath Chattopadhyay (Siuri)
- Umesh Rai (Howrah North)
- Ashok Dinda (Moyna)
- Arjun Singh (Noapara)
- Sumitra Chattopadhyay (Naihati)
- Sumana Sarkar (Balagarh)
- Gaurishankar Ghosh (Murshidabad)
- Rupa Ganguly (Sonarpur South)
- Gargi Das Ghosh (Kandi)
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Focus On Regional And Social Representation
The cabinet expansion is expected to reflect the BJP’s strategy of ensuring regional and social representation across the state. Several of the probable inductees represent north Bengal districts, tribal-dominated regions, urban constituencies and politically significant areas where the BJP registered strong performances in the Assembly polls.
The current six-member cabinet already reflects a mix of communities, including Brahmin, OBC, tribal, Matua and Rajbanshi representation. The expanded ministry is likely to further strengthen this balancing act.
Monday’s swearing-in ceremony will mark the formal constitution of the BJP’s first full-fledged cabinet in West Bengal. Political observers will closely watch the final composition of the ministry, portfolio allocations and the party’s efforts to balance regional aspirations with administrative priorities as it begins its first term in power in the state.
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