LF Ministry sworn-in in WB

Kolkata, May 18 (UNI) Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was today sworn-in as the chief minister of West Bengal at the head of a 44-member two-tier Left Front ministry.

Along with Mr Bhattacharjee, 43 of his ministerial colleagues were administered the oath of office by Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi at a glittering ceremony attended by a galaxy of celebrities on the sprawling lawn of the Raj Bhawan.

The ministry comprises 33 Cabinet ministers, including the Chief Minister and 11 ministers of state.

The new government features 16 new faces, including two women legislators.

The Cabinet Ministers who took oath were Mr Nirupam Sen, Mr Surjyakanta Mishra, Mr Gautam Deb, Mr Asim Dasgupta, Mr Subhash Chakraborty, Mr Nandagopal Bhattacharya, Mr Naren De, Mr Khiti Goswami, Mr Kiranmoy Nanda, Mr Pratim Chatterjee, Mr Partha De, Mr Manab Mukherjee, Mrs Rekha Goswami, Mr Ashok Bhattacharjee, Mr Abdur Rezzak Molla, Mr Mrinal Banerjee, Mr Biswanath Choudhury, Mr Rabindra Ghosh, Mr Jogesh Burman, Mr Anisur Rahman, Mr Debesh Das, Mr Sudarshan Roychoudhury, Mr Ananta Roy, Mr Paresh Adhikary, Mr Rabilal Moitra, Mr Chakradhar Meikap, Mr Subhash Naskar, Mr Kanti Ganguly, Mr Susanta Ghosh, Mr Mohanta Chatterjee, Dr Mortaza Hossain and Mr Sailen Sarkar, besides the Chief Minister himself.

The Ministers of State were Ms Debolina Hembram, Mr Manohar Tirkey, Mr Srikumar Mukherjee, Ms Bilasibala Sahis, Mr Narayan Biswas, Mr Abdur Sattar, Mr Bankim Chandra Ghosh, Mr Anarul Haq, Mr Binoy Krishna Biswas, Mr Tapan Roy and Mr Anadi Kumar Shaw.

Thirty-two Ministers belong to the CPI(M), four each to the Forward Bloc and RSP, two to the CPI and one each to the Forward Bloc(Marxist) and West Bengal Socialist Party(WBSP).

About 2,000 invitees, including eminent personalities from across the country witnessed the swearing-in ceremony.

UNI KDG BA YA DS1250