Kolkata, June 3 (IANS) The portfolio distribution of the new West Bengal cabinet under the leadership of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari will be announced later on Wednesday after a meeting of the expanded cabinet.

The meeting of the new cabinet will take place at the state secretariat of Nabanna, where the responsibilities of the ministers will be distributed. Some crucial administrative decisions are also likely to be taken at the meeting.

On June 1, a total of 35 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators took oath as ministers at a colourful programme at Lok Bhavan in Kolkata. Of the 35 new ministers, 13 were cabinet ministers, three were ministers of state with independent charge, and 19 were ministers of state.

With the swearing-in of the 35 new ministers, the total strength of the West Bengal cabinet is now 41. Six other cabinet ministers, including the Chief Minister, Suvendu Adhikari, took oaths earlier on May 9.

With the induction of the three 13 new cabinet ministers, the total number of cabinet members in the new West Bengal government, including CM Adhikari, increases to 19.

There is room for the induction of three more ministers. As per the constitutional provisions, the ministry strength has a ceiling of 15 per cent of the total seats in the state Assembly concerned. So, with a 294-seat West Bengal Assembly, the state cabinet can have a total of 44 members.

With the portfolio distribution of the ministers to be announced on Wednesday, the question now is who would be allotted the crucial departments of finance and industry & commerce. CM Adhikari, immediately after taking oath on May 9, had clearly said that the two important focus areas of the new government led by him will be revitalisation of the cash-strapped state exchequer burdened with huge accumulated debt, and the necessary policy framing to attract big-ticket investment in the state.

Insiders from the state unit of the BJP said that there is a possibility that CM Adhikari will retain the finance portfolio with him for the time being till an acclaimed Delhi-based Bengali economist is included in the cabinet as the new finance minister after getting him elected in the by-elections from Nandigram Assembly constituency in East Midnapore district.

In the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly polls, Adhikari contested and got elected from both Nandigram and Bhabanipur Assembly constituencies in South Kolkata. In Bhabanipur, he defeated the previous Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, by a margin of over 15,000 votes. Later, CM Adhikari retained his membership in the state Assembly as an MLA from Bhabanipur, thus making a by-election inevitable in Nandigram.

–IANS

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