INDIA.West Bengal: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Monday that there will be a cabinet reshuffle on August 3. The Chief Minister said five to six new faces would be inducted into the cabinet while some ministers would be shunted out and given responsibilities in the party.
“We have to reshuffle the cabinet as senior leader Subrata Mukherjee and Sadhan Pande have died and Partha Chatterjee is in jail,” Ms Banerjee said. She refused the speculations going on that she will dissolve the entire cabinet and swear in a new cabinet.
The chief minister said that after the death of two senior ministers and the arrest of Partha Chatterjee, most of the departments held by them were in charge. “I can’t do everything. We have to divide the work,” she said.
The move comes after the arrest of Partha Chatterjee, who was in charge of four key departments Chatterjee, who was arrested on July 23 in the Education Commission recruitment scam, held key portfolios of industry and commerce, and parliamentary affairs, among others.
Subrata Mukherjee, who died last year, was in charge of the Panchayat department and Sadhan Pande, who died in February 2022, was in charge of the consumer affairs department.
Protests against the Education Commission’s recruitment scam continued on Monday as job seekers staged protests in different parts of the city.
In another development, the West Bengal government has decided to create seven districts in the state. The decision was taken at a state cabinet meeting during the day. The Chief Minister said that two new districts of North 24 Parganas, Ichamati and Basirhat, would be carved out.
Down South 24 Parganas Sundarbans will be a new district. Murshidabad district will have two more districts, Jangipur and Behrampore and a new Bishnupur district will be carved out in Bankura.
At the cabinet meeting, Banerjee urged the minister not to engage in any action that would damage the party’s image. In another development, several district presidents and the district president of the Trinamool Congress were replaced and new faces were given responsibilities.
