West Bengal Cabinet reshuffle on August 3, says CM Mamata Banerjee

Four to five new persons will be inducted into the West Bengal Cabinet during a Cabinet reshuffle on August 3, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday, according to ANI.

Banerjee, however, said that reports claiming that the entire Cabinet will be dissolved were not true.

“There are several departments which have no one at the helm,” the chief minister said, according to PTI. “I alone cannot shoulder [the] responsibilities of all these departments.”

Banerjee noted that Trinamool Congress leaders Subrata Mukherjee and Sadhan Pande died while they were ministers, while former minister Partha Chatterjee is in jail.

Mukherjee was in charge of the departments of panchayats and rural development, public enterprises and industrial reconstruction, while Pande held the portfolios of consumer affairs, self-help groups and self-employment.

On July 28, Banerjee removed Chatterjee as a minister-in-charge for industry, commerce and enterprises, information technology and electronics, parliamentary affairs, public enterprises and industrial reconstruction.

She also removed him from all party posts after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on July 23 in connection with the investigation into the alleged scam in the state School Service Commission in 2018.

The 69-year-old was the state education minister in 2018 when allegedly jobs were given to candidates in return for money instead of deserving candidates who had qualified in the recruitment process.

Seven new districts

On Monday, the West Bengal chief minister also told reporters that the state government has decided on the formation of seven new districts.

The state currently has 23 districts. The new districts – Berhampore, Kandi, Parganas Sundarbans, Bashirhat, Ichamati, Ranaghat and Bishnupur – will take the total number to 30.

“The decision was taken to ensure smooth administrative operations,” a senior official of the state government told PTI.