KOLKATA: The West Bengal government led by Suvendu Adhikari underwent a major cabinet expansion on Monday as 35 new ministers were sworn into office at a ceremony held at Lok Bhavan in Kolkata. Governor R. N. Ravi administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new members of the Council of Ministers in the presence of senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and top government officials.
The swearing-in ceremony marked a significant step in strengthening the state administration under the BJP government, which came to power in West Bengal earlier this year. The event began with the singing of “Vande Mataram” and the National Anthem before the oath-taking process commenced. Chief Minister Adhikari attended the ceremony along with several senior BJP leaders and elected representatives.
According to official announcements made during the event, several prominent BJP leaders and legislators were inducted into the expanded cabinet. Among those sworn in as cabinet ministers were Tapas Roy, Manoj Oraon, Arjun Singh, Gaurishankar Ghosh, Deepak Barman, Sharadwat Mukhopadhyay, Arup Kumar Das, Swapan Dasgupta, Kalyan Chakraborty, Shankar Ghosh and Dudhkumar Mondal.
In addition to the cabinet ministers, a number of leaders were given independent charge of departments. Malati Rava Roy, Rajesh Mahato and Indranil Kha were among those entrusted with ministerial responsibilities carrying independent charge. Several others were inducted as Ministers of State, including former cricketer-turned-politician Ashok Dinda, Kaushik Chowdhury, Joyel Murmu, Harekrishna Bera, Shantanu Pramanik, Umesh Roy, Purnima Chakraborty, Bhaskar Bhattacharya, Dibakar Gharami, Chand Bauri, Gargi Das Ghosh, Amiya Kisku, Kalita Maji, Biraj Biswas, Sumana Sarkar, Anandamoy Barman, Bishal Lama and Dipankar Jana.
The cabinet expansion comes less than a month after Adhikari took oath as the first BJP Chief Minister of West Bengal on May 9. During the initial swearing-in ceremony, only a handful of ministers had joined the cabinet alongside him. Monday’s induction significantly increased the strength of the state government, taking the total number of ministers to 41.
Political observers view the expansion as an effort to provide broader regional representation and enhance the government’s administrative capacity. The inclusion of experienced politicians, former parliamentarians and first-time legislators is being seen as a move aimed at balancing governance responsibilities across different regions of the state.
Several senior BJP leaders attended the ceremony, including Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar, state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya and minister Agnimitra Paul. Many of the newly inducted ministers arrived with family members and supporters to witness the historic occasion. Reports indicated that several ministers chose traditional Bengali attire for the event, adding a cultural touch to the formal proceedings.
While the oath-taking ceremony officially inducted the ministers into the government, the allocation of portfolios had not been announced immediately. Sources indicated that a meeting of the Council of Ministers would be held later in the day, where the Chief Minister was expected to distribute departmental responsibilities among the newly sworn-in members.
The expansion is expected to play a key role in shaping the administrative direction of the BJP government as it begins its first full term in West Bengal. With a larger ministerial team now in place, the government is expected to focus on governance, policy implementation and fulfilling its electoral commitments across the state.
