In a major reshuffle of the West Bengal Council of Ministers, eight new MLAs were inducted as ministers in the State Cabinet. The Cabinet reshuffle comes on the back of the arrest of Partha Chatterjee and the State government relieving him from ministerial responsibilities.
Babul Supriyo among new faces
Of the eight new ministers, five new cabinet ministers—Babul Supriyo, Snehasis Chakraborty, Partha Bhowmick, Udayan Guha and Pradip Majumdar—were sworn in on Wednesday.
Three new Ministers of State are Tajmul Hussain, Satyajit Barman and Biplab Roychowdhury. Birbaha Hansda, who already was a Minister of State, has been elevated to Minister of State (Independent charge). The Ministers were sworn in by Governor La Ganesan.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee assigned the Department of Information Technology and Electronics and Tourism Department to Babul Supriyo. Snehasish Chakraborty was allocated portfolio of Transport Department, while Udayan Guha will be in charge of North Bengal Development. Pradeep Majumdar will be in charge of State’s Panchayats and Rural Development.
The crucial Department of Industries and Commerce went to Sashi Panja and the Department of Parliamentary Affairs went to senior Trinamool Congress leader Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay. Partha Chatterjee had held Industries and Commerce and Parliamentary Affairs department.