A total of 35 BJP MPs were sworn in as ministers on Monday as Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s government expanded in West Bengal. Governor R N Ravi administered the oath of office, taking the strength of the Cabinet to 41 in the Adhikari-led government.
Among those who took oath as ministers were Deepak Barman, Arjun Singh, Shankar Ghosh, Gauri Shankar Ghosh, former TMC minister Tapas Roy, Manoj Kumar Oraon, Jagannath Chattopadhyay, Ajoy Poddar, Swapan Dasgupta, Dr Shardwat Mukherjee and Kalyan Chakraborty.
Rajesh Mahata, Indranil Khan and Malati Rava Roy of the Bharatiya Janata Party were sworn in as ministers of state with independent charge in the Adhikari government, news agency PTI reported.
Adhikari and five ministers took oath at Brigade Parade in Kolkata on May 9 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and chief ministers of all BJP-ruled states.
West Bengal Cabinet
Adhikari took charge of the Home and Hills Ministry, the portfolios previously held by former Prime Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee.
Agnimitra Paul, the first woman to be appointed to the Cabinet, has been given charge of the Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Department, which was earlier overseen by Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim. She also heads the Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare.
Former West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh is in charge of the panchayat administration and rural development along with the animal husbandry department.
Nisith Pramanik, former Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, has been given the charge of the North Bengal Development Ministry as well as the Sports and Youth Affairs Department.
Ashok Kirtania, a leader from the Dalit Matua community, has been appointed Minister of Food Department.
Tribal leader Kshwaram Tudu has been given the responsibility of the Backward Classes Welfare and Minority Affairs Department and the school education department, which was previously under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee.
