West Bengal Cabinet undergoes expansion, 35 MLAs sworn in as ministers

West Bengal Governor RN Ravi administered oath of office to 35 MLAs as ministers in the state cabinet at Lok Bhavan in Kolkata on 1 June 2026. Photo: Screengrab from ANI video.

35 BJP MLAs were sworn in as ministers in the West Bengal government on Monday (June 1, 2026) at a function organized at Lok Bhawan. Calcutta.

West Bengal Governor RN Ravi administered oath to 13 Cabinet Ministers, three Ministers of State (Independent Charge) and 19 other Ministers of State. With six ministers, including Chief Minister Suvenda Adhikari, taking oath on May 9, the total number of ministers rose to 41.

Also read | Watch the highlights of West Bengal Cabinet expansion on June 1, 2026

According to Article 164(1A) of the Constitution, the total number of ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the Council of Ministers in the state may not exceed 15%. West Bengal has 294 seats in the state legislature; therefore, the Council of Ministers can have a maximum of 44 members. The portfolios will be allocated to the new ministers who were sworn in today, June 3.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has emphasized geographical, ethnic and gender aspects while expanding the Council of Ministers in the state.

The number of women ministers is seven, one Cabinet Minister Agnimitra Paul, one Minister of State (Independent Chief) Malati Rava Roy and one Minister of State Kalita Majhi, an MLA from Ausgram who was a domestic help before the elections.

Ten from North Bengal

Ten MLAs from North Bengal have made it to the Council of Ministers, which include Nisith Pramanik – appointed as the North Bengal Development Minister – and Sankar Ghosh, who was sworn in today. This is the highest number of legislators from North Bengal ever to be included in the Council of Ministers in West Bengal. Only four MLAs from Calcutta made it to the council, a departure from the previous tradition of legislators from Calcutta ruling the government.

Key faces in the government who took oath on Monday include Tapas Roy, Swapan Dasgupta, Sharadwat Mukherjee, Arjun Singh and Jagannath Chatterjee. These are MLAs who have been elected on a BJP ticket for the first time. Elected to the State Assembly for the second time, Sankar Ghosh, Deepak Burman, Manoj Oraon and Gouri Shankar Ghosh were also sworn in as Cabinet Ministers.

Prominent names from the ST community include Manoj Oraon, Rajesh Mahato, Joyel Murmu, Amiya Kisku and Bishal Lama. Prominent names from the Scheduled Caste community include Dipak Barman, Anandmoy Barman, Dudh Kumar Mondal, Hare Krishna Bera, Nadiar Chand Bauri, Dipankar Jana and Kalita Majhi.

Among the state ministers who took oath were Joyel Murmu, Ashok Dinda, Anandamoy Burman, Kaushik Chowdhury, Gargi Das Ghosh, Bhaskar Bhattacharya, Dibakar Gharami and Sumana Sarkar. BJP MLAs Santanu Pramanik, Purnima Chakraborty and Umesh Rai were also sworn in as ministers of the state.

Attempts were made to give representation to every county and district. Earlier, six BJP MLAs including Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and five others – Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Ashok Kirtania, Nisith Pramanik and Kshudiram Tudu were sworn in as ministers at the Kolkta Brigade Parade Grounds.

Published – 1 Jun 2026 13:18 IST