New Delhi: BJP MLAs Deepak Barman, Arjun Singh, Shankar Ghosh, Gauri Shankar Ghosh, Tapas Roy, Manoj Kumar Oraon, Jagannath Chattopadhyay, Swapan Dasgupta, Dr Sharadwat Mukherjee, Dr Kalyan Chakraborti, Ajoy Poddar take oath as Cabinet Ministers in CM Suvendu Adhikari’s led state government on Monday.
CM Adhikari on Sunday announced that 35 ministers will be sworn in on Monday as part of the expansion of his cabinet. Adhikari said Governor RN Ravi will administer the oath at 11 am at the Lok Bhavan.
“Tomorrow, a full-fledged Council of Ministers of the nationalist government elected by the people of West Bengal will be constituted,” he said in a social media post on Sunday evening.
“As part of the cabinet expansion, 35 ministers of the Government of West Bengal will take oath at Lok Bhavan at 11 am. Hon’ble Governor Shri RN Ravi will administer the oath of office to them at Lok Bhavan,” he added.
To recall, after the landslide victory in the West Bengal Assembly polls, Suvendu Adhikari and five other BJP MLAs – Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Ashok Kirtania, Nisith Pramanik and Kshudiram Tudu – were sworn in as Ministers by Governor R. N. Ravi on May 9.
With 35 more Ministers, the Cabinet strength (including the Chief Minister) will increase to 41. It is important to note that as per Article 164(1A) of the Constitution, the total number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the Council of Ministers in a State shall not exceed 15 percent.
West Bengal has 294 seats in the State Legislative Assembly and 15% of this number is 44. Therefore, the Council of Ministers can have a maximum of 44 members. The BJP has 208 MLA in the 294-member House.
Here are some of the probable names of those who are likely to take the oath today:
Chief Minister Adhikari is likely to include senior party leaders like Tapas Roy, Sankar Ghosh and Swapan Dasgupta in his Cabinet. Former Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh, senior BJP leader Ritesh Tewari Rudranil Ghosh, Sajal Ghosh are also among other top contenders. Some women MLAs like Roopa Ganguly and Chandana Bauri may also be administered oath as Ministers