Suspense continues over West Bengal Cabinet expansion

Kolkata

Almost ten days after the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was sworn in in West Bengal, suspense continues over the allocation of portfolios of different departments.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in along with five Ministers on May 9 at Brigade Parade Ground after the BJP won 207 seats in the 294-member Assembly, reducing the Trinamool Congress to 80 seats.

There are 54 departments in the West Bengal government, and Mr. Adhikari currently holds charge of 42 of them, including Home, Finance, Industries, School, Higher Education and Health.

At the first Cabinet meeting of the BJP government, 12 departments were allocated to the five Ministers who were sworn in alongside the Chief Minister.

Senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh has been given charge of Panchayat and Rural Development, along with Animal Resources and Agriculture Marketing. Agnimitra Paul, the only woman face in the Cabinet, has been allocated Municipal Affairs and Women and Child Development. Ashok Kirtaniya, a prominent Matua face, has been given charge of the Food and Supplies Department. Nisith Pramanik, an MLA from North Bengal, has been allocated Sports and Youth Affairs, while Kshudiram Tudu, a tribal face, has been appointed Minister of Tribal Affairs and Minority Department.

There is a lot of speculation within the BJP as to when the Council of Ministers will be expanded and who will be allocated key portfolios. The Budget Session of the West Bengal Assembly will begin from June 18, and if the Cabinet is not expanded by then, Mr. Adhikari, who holds the Finance Department, will present the first Budget of the BJP government.

There are also talks in the political circles that the BJP may rope in an economist and a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council for the post of the State’s Finance Minister.

The Cabinet expansion is due, even as the State government is taking crucial policy decisions and implementing several promises made by the party during the election campaign. Sources in the State government said some MLAs are already holding meetings with officials and functioning as de facto Ministers even though they have officially not been appointed.

The Cabinet expansion and allocation of different departments are going to be a challenge for the BJP leadership as it will have to balance the expectations of senior leaders who won the Assembly polls and also accommodate regional and caste equations.

Senior BJP leaders like Swapan Dasgupta, Roopa Ganguly and Ritesh Tewari have made it to the Assembly and are key contenders for Ministerial berths. Leaders like Sankar Ghosh, who played a key role in the last Assembly and former Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh, are among those who may be included in the Council of Ministers.

More than half a dozen doctors elected on BJP tickets are reportedly meeting hospital authorities in the hope of getting the Health portfolio. Similarly, the new pool of BJP MLAs includes lawyers who are eyeing the Law and Labour Department, while teachers are lobbying for the School and Higher Education Departments.

Sources in the BJP said that the central leadership of the party will have a say in the allocation of portfolios in the West Bengal government.