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Updated - June 01, 2026 at 08:43 PM.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari | Photo Credit: ANI

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari expanded the Council of Ministers on Monday by inducting 35 newly-elected legislators, three weeks after the BJP formed its first-ever government in the State.

Thirteen cabinet ministers, including Swapan Dasgupta, Tapas Roy, Saradwat Mukherjee and Shankar Ghosh, were sworn in at Kolkata’s Lok Bhawan. Three ministers of State with independent charge and 19 ministers of State also took oath, giving complete shape to Adhikari’s team.

After the induction of the 35 MLAs into the Council of Ministers, the State cabinet strength now stands at 41.

Suvendu Adhikari was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of West Bengal on May 9, after the BJP recorded a landslide victory in the Assembly elections in April. That day, Adhikari, the BJP legislature party leader, inducted five ministers in the State cabinet.

The cabinet expansion was expected this week as Adhikari and State BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya held meetings in Delhi with the party’s central leadership last week about the induction of members in the council of ministers. The portfolio allocation for the newly-inducted legislators is expected to be announced on Wednesday.

“Lakshmir Bhandar”

On Monday, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said separate special investigation teams (SITs) will probe the alleged fake beneficiaries of “Lakshmir Bhandar”, the women’s cash transfer scheme of the previous Trinamool government, and the alleged forgery of MLAs’ signatures in a letter submitted by the Trinamool Congress to the office of the Speaker on the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly.

“Around 30 lakh Lakshmir Bhandar accounts are fake. I have asked the director general of police (DGP) to form an SIT to investigate the matter,” Adhikari told mediapersons at the state secretariat, Nabanna. He said a money laundering probe will also be conducted as it involves illegal cash transfers.

Those who were questioning the 12-page verification form for the new BJP government’s Annapurna Bhandar scheme, in which the financial assistance to a woman beneficiary will be increased to ₹3000 per month from ₹1500, should take into account the instances of "illegalities" noticed in the erstwhile Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, he added.

Published on June 1, 2026

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