BENGAL CABINET TO TAKE SHAPE TODAY WITH SWEARING-IN
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet is set to be a mix of political veterans and young leaders, with 43 ministers scheduled to take oath on Monday, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders familiar with the matter said on Sunday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the TMC leaders said Mamata had prepared a list of 24 cabinet and 19 ministers of state.
Although the CM did not disclose the ministerial portfolios, party insiders said Amit Mitra was likely to return as the finance minister even though he did not contest the recently concluded state polls.
“With the party winning 213 seats, Mitra can contest and emerge as a winner from any seat, including Khardah which he earlier held (and now is vacant),” a top TMC leader told HT on condition of anonymity.
Subrata Mukherjee, Partha Chatterjee, Javed Khan and Moloy Ghatak are among the senior leaders that are likely to return to the cabinet, TMC leaders said. They added that actor Birbaha Hansda and former cricketer Manoj Tiwary are also likely to be made ministers of state.
Kolkata-based political science professor Udayan Bandopadhyay said Mamata must choose her cabinet wisely. “Amit Mitra can be the finance minister but it needs to be seen who all gets charge of other important departments, education for example,” he said.