After the induction of the 35 legislators into the council of ministers, the cabinet strength is now 41.

West Bengal cabinet undergoes expansion, 35 BJP MLAs sworn in as ministers

Thirty-five BJP MLAs were sworn in as ministers in Suvendu Adhikari's West Bengal government on Monday. The expansion took the cabinet strength to 41, weeks after the BJP's landmark election win.

by · India Today

In Short

  • Governor RN Ravi administered the oath at the Lok Bhavan programme
  • Ten legislators joined the ministry as cabinet ministers at the ceremony
  • Three MLAs took oath with independent charge in the expanded council

Thirty-five BJP MLAs, including Tapas Roy, Shankar Ghosh and Swapan Dasgupta, took oath as ministers on Monday as part of an expansion of the Suvendu Adhikari-led cabinet in West Bengal.

Governor RN Ravi administered the oath to the legislators at a programme at the Lok Bhavan here.

BJP legislators Swapan Dasgupta, Dudh Kumar Mondal, Deepak Burman, Manoj Oraon, Gouri Shankar Ghosh, Arjun Singh, Tapas Roy, Saradwat Mukherjee, Jagannath Chattopadhyay and Shankar Ghosh were sworn in as cabinet ministers in the Suvendu Adhikari government.

Party MLAs Rajesh Mahata, Indranil Khan and Malati Rava Roy took oath as MoS (independent charge). BJP legislators Santanu Pramanik, Purnima Chakraborty, Umesh Rai, Joyel Murmu, Ashok Dinda, Anandamoy Burman, Kaushik Chowdhury, Gargi Das Ghosh, Bhaskar Bhattacharya, Dibakar Gharami and Sumana Sarkar were sworn in as ministers of state.

After the induction of the 35 legislators into the council of ministers, the cabinet strength is now 41, three short of the maximum count of ministers that a government can have in the 294-member assembly. The oath-taking ceremony was held three weeks after Adhikari was sworn in as the chief minister on May 9 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP’s central leadership and CMs of NDA-ruled states.

Along with Adhikari, BJP legislators Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Nisith Pramanik, Ashok Kirtania and Kshudiram Tudu also took oath as ministers on that day. The cabinet expansion was expected this week as Adhikari and state BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya held meetings in New Delhi with the party's central leadership last week about the induction of members in the council of ministers.

The May 9 swearing-in ceremony was held at the iconic Brigade Parade Grounds after the BJP secured 208 seats in the 294-member assembly in the recently concluded elections, ending the Trinamool Congress’ 15-year rule and scripting its most significant electoral breakthrough in eastern India.

- Ends