With former minister Partha Chatterjee in jail and the death of two others, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced Monday she will reshuffle her cabinet Wednesday and induct four to five new faces. Banerjee added that the new ministers will be taking their oath on Wednesday evening.
Following the cabinet meeting, Banerjee said: “Subrata Mukherjee and Sadhan Pandey died. Partha da (Partha Chatterjee) is in jail. They had important departments like panchayat, industry, consumer affairs and many more. I cannot take more pressure. Hence, I have to include some new faces in the cabinet. Some leaders will be sent for work related to strengthening the party as well. We will have a small oath-taking ceremony the day after tomorrow.”
According to TMC sources, the cabinet will have more young faces. “Among the youth of the party, Abhishek Banerjee has more influence than Mamata Banerjee. Naturally, it is evident that Abhishek will have more command over the new cabinet,” they said.
Banerjee also announced that seven new districts will be carved out in the state very soon. Murshidabad, Nadia and North 24 Parganas will be the ones that will be divided into seven districts. The districts will be Berhampore, Kandi, Ichhamoti, Basirhut, Ranaghat and Sundarban. Bankura, too, will be divided and Bishnupur will be formed as a new district. The state currently has 23 districts.
