The newly formed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal underwent its first major cabinet expansion on Monday as 35 additional ministers officially took their oaths of office. State Governor R. N. Ravi administered the oath to the newly appointed members during a special ceremony held at 11:00 AM at the Lok Bhavan in Kolkata. This administrative restructuring comes nearly three weeks after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari initially assumed charge of the state.The latest induction has increased the total strength of the state cabinet to 41 members.
Among the 35 newly inducted ministers, 13 were sworn in as Cabinet or full ministers, three as Ministers of State with Independent Charge, and the remaining 19 as Ministers of State. Chief Minister Adhikari appears to have emphasized political experience alongside professional diversity and broad social representation in this expanded cabinet. The newly sworn-in group includes seasoned politicians like Tapas Roy alongside two cancer specialists, veteran journalist and author Swapan Dasgupta, and Kalita Maji, a former domestic worker who rose through the political ranks. Official announcements regarding the specific portfolios assigned to these new ministers are yet to be released.
Earlier on May 9, Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as the Chief Minister at a mass gathering at the Brigade Parade Ground alongside a concise team of only five ministers. That initial small group included Agnimitra Paul, Dilip Ghosh, Nisith Pramanik, Ashok Kirtania, and Kshudiram Tudu. Operating with a minimalist administrative team for nearly three weeks, the Chief Minister has now effectively executed a full-scale deployment to manage governance.
The massive cabinet expansion follows the absolute majority secured by the BJP in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections, where the party won 207 seats. The incumbent Trinamool Congress (TMC) managed to secure only 80 seats, bringing an abrupt end to its 15 years of uninterrupted governance in the state. This significant shift in the legislative assembly signals an entirely new political era for the region.
