Bengal CM Adhikari expands cabinet; 35 ministers take oath
What's the story
The Bharagovernment in West Bengal has expanded its cabinet, with 35 new ministers taking oath on Monday. The ceremony was held at Lok Bhawan in Kolkata and administered by Governor R N Ravi. With this expansion, the Council of Ministers now has 41 members under Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's leadership.
Ministerial profiles
MLAs Tapash Roy, Manoj Kumar Oraon inducted
The new ministers include MLAs Dipak Barman, Arjun Singh, Shankar Ghosh, Gauri Shankar Ghosh, Tapash Roy, Manoj Kumar Oraon and Jagannath Chattopadhyay. Others are Ajoy Poddar, Swapan Dasgupta, Dr. Sharadwat Mukherjee and Kalyan Chakraborti. The cabinet reshuffle is seen as a strategic move to strengthen the government's administrative framework and improve governance in key sectors.
Official announcement
Adhikari announces cabinet expansion
CM Adhikari had announced the cabinet expansion on Sunday, saying all arrangements for the swearing-in ceremony were in place. He said, "Tomorrow at 11am the full Cabinet of the democratically elected Nationalist State Government of West Bengal will be sworn in at Lok Bhavan." Adhikari had taken oath as Chief Minister on May 9 after the BJP's victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections.