West Bengal's first BJP-helmed cabinet will undergo an expansion on Monday, with 35 MLAs set to take oath as ministers, CM Suvendu Adhikari said. Governor RN Ravi will administer the oath at 11 am at the Lok Bhavan here, the chief minister said.
"Tomorrow, a full-fledged Council of Ministers of the nationalist government elected by the people of West Bengal will be constituted," Adhikari said in a social media post on Sunday evening.
"As part of the cabinet expansion, 35 ministers of the Government of West Bengal will take oath at Lok Bhavan at 11 am. Hon'ble Governor Shri RN Ravi will administer the oath of office to them at Lok Bhavan," he added.
The oath-taking ceremony will be held three weeks after Adhikari was sworn in as the chief minister on May 9 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP's central leadership and CMs of NDA-ruled states.
Along with Adhikari, BJP legislators Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Nisith Pramanik, Ashok Kirtania and Kshudiram Tudu also took oath as ministers.
After the induction of the 35 legislators into the council of ministers, the cabinet strength will be 41, three short of the maximum count of ministers that a government can have in the 294-member assembly.
The cabinet expansion was expected this week as Adhikari and state BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya held meetings in New Delhi with the party's central leadership last week about the induction of members in the council of ministers.
The six-member cabinet now reflects the BJP's attempt at social and regional balancing, with representation from Brahmin, OBC, tribal, Matua and Rajbanshi communities.
The May 9 swearing-in ceremony was held at the iconic Brigade Parade Grounds after the BJP secured 208 seats in the 294-member assembly in the recently concluded elections, ending the Trinamool Congress' 15-year rule and scripting its most significant electoral breakthrough in eastern India.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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