BJP MLAs Swapan Dasgupta, Sharadwat Mukherjee, Dudh Kumar Mondal, and Arup Kumar Das signs documents after taking oath as Cabinet Ministers in the West Bengal government, during the cabinet expansion ceremony, at Lok Bhavan (file photo) | Photo Credit: Saikat Paul/ANI

Ten days after the swearing in of the extended cabinet of the BJP government in West Bengal, portfolios were allocated among the ministers on Wednesday, with senior leader Tapas Roy named the industries minister and journalist-turned-politician, Swapan Dasgupta, getting the finance department.

According to a notification issued by the state home department and signed by Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Agarwal, BJP MLA from Bidhannagar, Dr Sharadwat Mukherjee, was named the health minister.

It stated that besides the home department, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari would continue to hold the charge of land and land reforms, refugee relief and rehabilitation, power, information and cultural affairs, personnel and administrative reforms and departments not allotted to other ministers.

As part of the latest portfolio allocation, journalist-turned-politician Jagannath Chattopadhyay, who won the Suri Assembly seat in Birbhum district, has been given the responsibility of the state's higher education department.

BJP leader from Birbhum, Dudh Kumar Mondal, was named the agriculture minister, while the north Bengal leader from Falakata in Alipurduar district, Dipak Barman, was put in charge of the state school education department.

Among the other significant portfolios, tourism and parliamentary affairs went to Siliguri MLA Shankar Ghosh, while the charge of labour and transport departments went to Noapara MLA Arjun Singh.

Among the ministers of state with independent charge, Indranil Khan was named sports and youth, and consumer affairs minister, while the BJP's Cooch Behar district leader, Malati Rava Roy, was allocated the Women and Child Development department.

Chief Minister Adhikari was sworn in on May 9 along with five cabinet ministers -- Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Ashok Kirtania, Nisith Pramanik, and Kshudiram Tudu. They have already been assigned the charge of departments.

On June 1, the state cabinet underwent a significant expansion, with Governor R N Ravi inducting 35 more ministers, of which 13 were cabinet ministers and 22 ministers of state, including three with Independent Charge.

With this expansion, the total strength of the ministerial council rose to 41.

Cabinet Ministers Paul and Dilip Ghosh had been allotted the urban development and municipal affairs department, and the panchayat and rural development, with the additional charge of agriculture marketing, respectively.

Cooch Behar leader Nisith Pramanik continues to remain the North Bengal development minister and is also in charge of the water resources investigation and development department, while Ashok Kirtania would be the food and cooperation minister.

Tribal leader Kshudiram Tudu had been named minister for tribal development, minority affairs and madrasah education departments.

Of the later inductees in the Suvendu Adhikari cabinet, educationist-turned-politician from the Khardaha assembly seat, Kalyan Chakraborty, was allocated the state IT and electronics department with additional charges of the departments of science and technology, food processing and horticulture.

BJP's North Bengal leader from Kumargram in Alipurduar, Manoj Kumar Oraon, was named the state forest minister while Gouri Shankar Ghosh, an MLA from Murshidabad, was put in charge of the backward classes welfare department.

Arup Kumar Das has been named the irrigation and waterways minister, while Ajoy Poddar was allocated the public health engineering department.

Kudmi community leader from Jhargram, Rajesh Mahata, was put at the helm of the animal resources and fisheries departments as a junior minister with independent charge.

Portfolios to assist cabinet ministers were also distributed among the 19 ministers of state who comprise Adhikari's ministerial council in the state.

Published on June 10, 2026