KOLKATA: The Mamata Banerjee government effected on Wednesday its second cabinet reshuffle since being voted to office in 2021 for its third successive term, adding five cabinet ministers and three ministers of state to give Bengal a 44-strong council of ministers, reports Debashis Konar. North Bengal strongman Udayan Guha, former BJP Union junior minister Babul Supriyo, Naihati MLA Partha Bhowmik, Jangipara MLA Snehasis Chakraborty and Durgapur East MLA Pradip Mazumdar were the new cabinet ministers.
Mamata Banerjee rejigged her ministry on Wednesday, dropping Paresh Adhikari, Soumen Mahapatra, Humayun Kabir and Ratna De Nag. Adhikari’s name has featured prominently in the alleged teachers’ recruitment scam, with the Calcutta high court removing his daughter from the post of a Cooch Behar schoolteacher. Mahapatra has been entrusted with organisational work in East Midnapore.