Daijiworld Media Network - Kolkata

Kolkata, Jun 1: Thirty-five MLAs are set to be sworn in as ministers on Monday as part of a major expansion of the West Bengal cabinet, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced.

Governor RN Ravi will administer the oath of office at 11 am at Lok Bhavan in Kolkata, Adhikari said.

In a social media post on Sunday, the Chief Minister said a full-fledged Council of Ministers of the newly elected government would be constituted with the induction of 35 legislators.

“Tomorrow, a full-fledged Council of Ministers of the nationalist government elected by the people of West Bengal will be constituted. As part of the cabinet expansion, 35 ministers of the Government of West Bengal will take oath at Lok Bhavan at 11 am,” Adhikari said.

The cabinet expansion comes three weeks after Adhikari was sworn in as Chief Minister on May 9 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, senior BJP leaders and chief ministers of NDA-ruled states.

Along with Adhikari, BJP leaders Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Nisith Pramanik, Ashok Kirtania and Kshudiram Tudu had also taken oath as ministers.

With the induction of 35 more legislators, the strength of the Council of Ministers will rise to 41, just three short of the maximum permissible size for a government in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly.

The cabinet expansion was widely anticipated following meetings held in New Delhi last week between Adhikari, state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya and the party's central leadership regarding the composition of the ministry.

The existing six-member cabinet reflects the BJP's strategy of social and regional representation, with ministers drawn from Brahmin, OBC, tribal, Matua and Rajbanshi communities.

The new government assumed office after the BJP secured 208 seats in the recently concluded Assembly elections, ending the Trinamool Congress's 15-year rule and marking the party's biggest electoral success in eastern India.