Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee expands Cabinet, 43 TMC leaders sworn-in as ministers

As many as 43 ministers of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet, including 19 ministers of state, took the oath office at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata in the presence of governor Jagdeep Dhankhar in a simple ceremony, keeping in mind the raging coronavirus pandemic.

The list of veteran leaders, part of the cabinet, includes Subrata Mukherjee, Partha Chatterjee, Firhad Hakim, Jyoti Priya Mallick, Moloy Ghatak, Aroop Biswas, Dr Shashi Panja and Javed Ahmed Khan were sworn in as ministers at the Raj Bhavan premises.

Three TMC leaders Amit Mitra, Bratya Basu and Rathin Ghosh were sworn-in virtually. Mitra is unwell and both Basu and Ghosh are recuperating from Covid-19.

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There were 15 new faces including former IPS officer Humayun Kabir, former Bengal Ranji captain Manoj Tiwari and Siuli Saha.

While Kabir was among 10 persons who became ministers of state (independent charge), Tiwari and Saha were featured in the list of nine MLAs sworn-in as ministers of state.

After the swearing-in ceremony, Banerjee will hold the first meeting with her cabinet later in the day, during which she will allot portfolios, news agency PTI reported.

On May 5, Mamata Banerjee was sworn in as the chief minister for the third consecutive term by governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.

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In recently concluded Assembly elections, TMC secured a thumping majority by securing 213 of the 292 assembly seats.

However, Banerjee herself lost from Nandigram, a hotbed of Bengal politics.