Eight new names in West Bengal cabinet, four ministers excluded

The Mamata Banerjee government on Wednesday carried out its second cabinet reshuffle since coming to power in 2021 for its third consecutive term, giving Bengal a 44-strong council of ministers, including five cabinet ministers and three ministers of state.

North Bengal strongman Udayan Guha, former junior BJP minister Babul Supriyo, Naihati MLA Partha Bhowmik, Jangipara MLA Snehasis Chakraborty and Durgapur East MLA Pradeep Majumdar are the new cabinet ministers. The three new ministers of the state were Biplab Roy Chowdhury, Satyajit Burman and Tajmul Hussain, while tribal face and junior minister Birbaha Hansda got independent charge of a major department (self-help groups and self-employment).

Trinamool has decided to remove Paresh Adhikari, Soumen Mohapatra, Humayun Kabir and Ratna De Nag from the council of ministers. The officer's name has figured prominently in the alleged teacher recruitment scam, with the Calcutta High Court removing his daughter as a teacher in a Cooch Behar school while Mohapatra has been given organizational assignments in East Midnapore.

Trinamool has decided to remove Paresh Adhikari, Soumen Mohapatra, Humayun Kabir and Ratna De Nag from the council of ministers. The officer's name has figured prominently in the alleged teacher recruitment scam, with the Calcutta High Court removing his daughter as a teacher in a Cooch Behar school. At the same time, Mohapatra has been given organizational work in East Midnapore. CM Banerjee had announced on Monday that some important changes would be seen in the cabinet. Former education minister Partha Chatterjee is now in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate for his alleged involvement in the teacher recruitment scam.