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Journalism of Courage
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SEVERAL fresh faces are expected in the new Mamata Banerjee Cabinet that will be sworn in on May 27. On Thursday, when asked about the names, Mamata said, “The names are yet to be finalised but we are working on it.” The new government will be in office by May 29, she added.
All the elected MLAs have been called for a meeting at Mamata’s residence-cum-party office on Harish Chatterjee Street on Friday for a meeting, where she might talk about the portfolio distribution.
Elections 2016: Big Winners & Losers
The most significant entrant to the Cabinet could be Suvendu Adhikari, the dynamic young face of the TMC and its sitting MP from Tamluk, who won from Nandigram by over 81,000 votes.
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Adhikari has been with Mamata since the Nandigram days. After the 2011 victory, the TMC chief had deployed Adhikari in the Junglemahal area to beat back Maoists, in what was touted as one of her government’s biggest achievements. The TMC won handsomely from Janglemahal this time.
Another new face in the Mamata cabinet could be Siddiqullah Chowdhury, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind chief who fought from Mongalkote in Burdwan on a TMC ticket and wrested it from the Left after 39 years.
Abdur Rezzak Mollah, expelled from the CPM, won from Bhangar in South 24 Parganas and is also likely to become a minister. He has years of experience in land reforms. The inclusion of Chowdhury and Mollah would send a positive message to Mamata’s huge minority vote bank.
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Among younger and newer leaders, cricketer Lakshmi Ratan Shukla who defeated star BJP face Roopa Ganguly could get the sports portfolio. The daughter of late Jagmohan Dalmiya, Vaishali, who won from Bally, could also become a Cabinet member.
On Thursday, Mamata said, “The verdict has shown how people disregarded all these Sarada-Narada issues,” she said. If this could be read as a clean chit by Mamata to at least four ministers who featured in the Narada sting, then some of them might be back in the Cabinet. Some of them, like Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, are close to Mamata.
Changes are expected in the party too. The new order was on display on Thursday, with spokesperson Derek O’Brien, party vice-president Mukul Roy and, most importantly, nephew Abhishek Banerjee flanking Mamata as she declared victory.
With Aniruddha Ghosal
