West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that there will be a cabinet reshuffle on August 3. The Chief Minister said that five to six new faces to be inducted in the cabinet, while some Ministers will be moved out and given responsibility in the party.
“We have to reshuffle the cabinet because senior leader Subrata Mukherjee and Sadhan Pande have passed away and Partha Chatterjee is in prison,” Ms. Banerjee said. She refuted speculations going on that she will dissolve the entire cabinet and a fresh cabinet will be sworn in. The Chief Minister said that after the passing away of two senior Ministers and arrest of Mr. Chatterjee, she has been in charge of most of the departments held by them. “I cannot 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. Mr. Chatterjee who was arrested on July 23 in School Service Commission recruitment scam held crucial departments of Industries and Commerce, Parliamentary Affairs among others. Subrata Mukherjee who passed away last year was in charge of Panchayat Department and Sadhan Pande who passed away in February 2022 was in charge of Consumer affairs Department. The protests over School Service Commission recruitment scam continued on Monday with job aspirants staging protests in different parts of the city
Seven new districts
In another development, the West Bengal government decided on the formation of seven districts in the State. The decision was taken at a meeting of the State Cabinet during the day. The Chief Minister said that two new districts will be carved out North 24 Parganas, Ichamati and Basirhat. In South 24 Parganas Sundarbans will be a new district. The district of Murshidabad will have two more districts, Jangipur and Behrampore and in Bankura a new district of Bishnupur will be carved out.
During the Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister urged the Minister not to indulge in any act that is detrimental to the image of the party. In another development a number of district presidents and district chairman of Trinamool Congress were changed and new faces were given responsibility.
