Mamata allocates portfolios to council of ministers

Kolkata, May 21: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today (May 21) allocated portfolios to her newly sworn-in council of ministers, keeping to herself nine departments, including Home, Land and Land Reforms.

Her other departments are Information and Cultural Affairs, Health and Family Welfare, Agriculture, Hill Affairs, Minority Affairs and Madrasa Education, Personnel and Administrative Reforms and Power.

Besides Banerjee, 35 ministers from Trinamool Congress and two from the Congress took oath on Friday. While both the Congress MLAs Manas Bhuniya and Abu Hena, hold Cabinet ranks, four TC legislators have been made Ministers of State.

Economist and former FICCI general secretary Amit Mitra was allocated the departments of Finance and Excise, while Banerjee's close associate Partha Chatterjee was allocated Commerce and Industries, Public Enterprises, Industrial Reconstruction, Parliamentary Affairs and Information Technology.

Trinamool Congress state president Subrata Bakshi was allocated PWD and Transport, while former Chief Secretary Manish Gupta, who defeated former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in Jadavpur seat was given charge of the Development and Planning department.

Former Kolkata Mayor and Trinamool Congress vice- president Subrata Mukherjee was given charge of Public Health Engineering. Trinamool minority leader Abdul Karim Chowdhury was given charge of the Mass Education Extension and Library Services department.

Theatre personality and new Trinamool entrant Bratya Basu, who defeated CPI(M) heavyweight Goutam Deb in Dum Dum, was allocated the important portfolio of Higher Education, while former Joint Director of CBI Upendra Nath Biswas, one of Banerjee's non-politician ''trumpcards'', was given Backward Classes Welfare department.

PTI