Making a comeback in the Cabinet of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Ujjal Biswas and Chandrima Bhattacharya were sworn in as minister in-charge and minister of state (independent charge) respectively in Raj Bhawan on Monday.
Biswas has become the new Correctional Administration minister replacing Abani Mohan Joardar, who is ill and Bhattacharya has got the charge of the newly-formed e-governance department that was with the Chief Minister. She has also been given back the Health department of which she was minister-of-state in the first term of the Trinamool Congress government.
Biswas and Bhattacharya were been sworn in by Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi. Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Parliamentary Affairs minister Partha Chatterjee, Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim, Panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee, IT minister Bratya Basu and minister of state of Information and Cultural Affairs department Indranil Sen were present in the swearing in ceremony.
Bhattacharya was one of the eight ministers who had lost the Assembly elections in 2016. She had failed to retain North Dum Dum seat as she had lost only by 6,549 votes. She made a comeback with her victory by a huge margin in the by-election in Kanthi Assembly constituency that was held in April 2017 after its MLA Dibendu Adhikary was elected as an MP. She won the election by a margin of 42,536 votes. The Chief Minister had over and again praised Bhattacharya for her work as a minister in the first term of her government and she was made the chairperson of West Bengal Medical Services Corporation in the rank of a minister of state after she had failed to retain her seat in the 2016 Assembly polls. Soon after Bhattacharya's victory in the by-election, Banerjee had announced that she would be made minister again.
Biswas, MLA from South Krishnagar Assembly constituency, was the Technical Education minister in the first term of the government and now he has been given the charge of the Correctional Administration department that was with Abani Mohan Joardar.
A few months after Trinamool Congress came to power for a second time, Joardar fell seriously ill and the state Irrigation minister Rajib Banerjee was given the additional charge of the Correctional Administration department. Now, Biswas has been made the minster of the department and Joardar will be continuing as a minster without any portfolio.
With Biswas and Bhattacharya getting inducted to the Cabinet once again, the total number of ministers has gone up to 44.
The Chief Minister has left for Delhi soon after the swearing in ceremony and it is learnt that there will be a small reshuffle in the Cabinet soon after she returns.