Kolkata: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in West Bengal took a major step towards strengthening its administration on Monday as 35 legislators were sworn in as ministers during a significant cabinet expansion under Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. The oath-taking ceremony was held at Lok Bhavan in Kolkata and was administered by Governor R.N. Ravi.
The expansion marks the formation of West Bengal’s first BJP-led Council of Ministers following the party’s victory in the 2026 Assembly elections. With the induction of 35 new ministers, the strength of the state cabinet has risen to 41, just three short of the maximum permissible limit for the 294-member Assembly.
Several prominent BJP leaders were inducted as Cabinet Ministers, including Swapan Dasgupta, Dudh Kumar Mondal, Deepak Burman, Manoj Oraon, Gouri Shankar Ghosh, Arjun Singh, Tapas Roy, Saradwat Mukherjee, Jagannath Chattopadhyay and Shankar Ghosh. Their inclusion is being viewed as an effort to ensure regional representation and strengthen governance across various parts of the state.
In addition to the Cabinet Ministers, three MLAs, Rajesh Mahata, Indranil Khan and Malati Rava Roy, were sworn in as Ministers of State with independent charge. The government also inducted a large group of Ministers of State, including Shantanu Pramanik, Purnima Chakraborty, Umesh Rai, Joel Murmu, Ashok Dinda, Anandamoy Burman, Kaushik Chowdhury, Gargi Das Ghosh, Bhaskar Bhattacharya, Dibakar Gharami and Sumana Sarkar, among others.
Other legislators who took oath as Ministers of State included Hare Krishna Bera, Nadiar Chand Bauri, Vishal Lama, Moumita Biswas Mishra, Amiya Kisku, Kalita Majhi, Biraj Biswas and Dipankar Jana. The broad-based expansion reflects the BJP’s attempt to accommodate leaders from diverse social, regional and community backgrounds.
Ahead of the cabinet expansion, West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya highlighted the government’s commitment to delivering on its electoral promises. In a post on social media platform X, he described June 1, 2026, as “a new beginning of hope in the lives of the state’s people.”
Bhattacharya announced that free travel services for women in state-run buses had been launched from Monday. He also stated that the BJP government had begun the full implementation of the “Annapurna Yojana,” a welfare initiative aimed at providing assistance to eligible beneficiaries across the state.
According to Bhattacharya, government officials and party workers have already started outreach efforts to ensure welfare benefits reach deserving citizens. He emphasized that the administration remains focused on development, welfare and good governance.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas,” Bhattacharya said the new “double-engine government” would work to ensure that the benefits of development reach even the most remote and disadvantaged sections of society.
The cabinet expansion is expected to provide the newly elected government with the administrative strength required to implement its policy agenda and fulfil key election commitments. Political observers believe the induction of experienced legislators alongside new faces could help the Adhikari government consolidate its position and accelerate governance initiatives in the coming months.
