KOLKATA: Thirty-five BJP MLAs, including Tapas Roy, Shankar Ghosh and Swapan Dasgupta, were sworn in as ministers on Monday as part of an expansion of the Suvendu Adhikari-led cabinet in West Bengal.
The oath was administered by Governor RN Ravi at a ceremony held at Lok Bhavan.
Among those inducted as Cabinet ministers were Dudh Kumar Mondal, Deepak Burman, Manoj Oraon, Gouri Shankar Ghosh, Arjun Singh, Saradwat Mukherjee and Jagannath Chattopadhyay.
Rajesh Mahata, Indranil Khan and Malati Rava Roy took oath as Ministers of State with independent charge.
A further group of MLAs — including Santanu Pramanik, Purnima Chakraborty, Umesh Rai, Joyel Murmu, former cricketer Ashok Dinda, Anandamoy Burman, Kaushik Chowdhury, Gargi Das Ghosh, Bhaskar Bhattacharya, Dibakar Gharami and Sumana Sarkar were sworn in as Ministers of State.
Following this expansion, the cabinet strength has risen to 41, leaving it three short of the maximum permissible size in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly.
Political observers in Kolkata said the expanded cabinet has sought to maintain regional balance by allocating portfolios to MLAs representing Kolkata, adjoining districts and remote parts of the state.
According to them, previous cabinets led by Mamata Banerjee often assigned key portfolios to MLAs from south Kolkata and nearby district towns. The new cabinet under Suvendu Adhikari, however, reflects a broader geographical and social representation.
The cabinet includes individuals from diverse professional and social backgrounds, including educationists, physicians, journalists and a former domestic worker, Kalita Maji.
North Bengal has received significant representation, with 10 ministers from the region, including four cabinet-rank ministers and six ministers of state.
Nisith Pramanik, BJP MLA from Mathabhanga, had taken oath alongside Adhikari on May 9 as a cabinet minister. On Monday, Siliguri MLA Shankar Ghosh, Dipak Burman from Falakata and Manoj Oraon from Kumargram were sworn in as cabinet ministers. Six others from various districts in north Bengal took oath as ministers of state.
The north Bengal region has long complained of neglect under both the Left Front and Trinamool Congress governments. In recent elections, the region has emerged as a BJP stronghold.
By giving substantial representation to the region, the Adhikari government has signalled its focus on north Bengal while also assigning greater responsibility to its representatives.
Most of the newly inducted ministers wore traditional Bengali attire — dhotis and punjabis — during the swearing-in ceremony at Lok Bhaban, while women ministers wore sarees.
“We want to uplift the Bengali traditional culture and that is why we came here wearing dhotis and punjabis,” said Shankar Ghosh.
The ceremony took place three weeks after Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as Chief Minister on 9 May, at an event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, senior BJP leaders and chief ministers from NDA-ruled states.
On that occasion, several other BJP leaders — including Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Ashok Kirtania and Kshudiram Tudu — had also been sworn in as ministers.
The recent expansion follows a series of meetings in New Delhi between Mr Adhikari and state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya with the party’s central leadership, where the composition of the council of ministers was finalised.
The reshuffle comes after the BJP secured 208 seats in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly, ending the Trinamool Congress’ 15-year rule and marking a significant electoral breakthrough in eastern India.
(With inputs from Subhendu Maiti)