Amid high possibilities of the names of other members of the newly formed West Bengal Cabinet along with their portfolio distribution being announced this week, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari met the Governor R.N. Ravi at the Lok Bhavan (previously Raj Bhavan) in Kolkata on Wednesday and held a 1.4 hours-long one-to-one meeting.
Although there was no indication either from the office of the Governor or from the Chief Minister's office on the subjects that were discussed during that meeting, insiders from the state unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that in all probability extension of the state Cabinet and the announcement of the names and portfolios was the main subject of the discussion in the meeting.
Earlier on May 9, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of 'Gurudev' Rabindranath Tagore, Chief Minister Adhikari and five other members of the state Cabinet took oath at an event at the Brigade Parade Ground in central Kolkata. The other five Cabinet members who took oath on that day include Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Nisith Pramanik, Ashok Kirtaniya and Khudiram Tudu.
The Governor administered the oath ceremony in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, top central leaders of the BJP and Chief Ministers from other BJP-ruled states in the country. However, the formation and announcement of the full state Cabinet did not happen at that point in time.
Since then, speculation has been making the rounds across political circles and corridors of power in the state about when the state Cabinet expansion takes place. A state BJP committee member said that a lot of things have to be kept in mind announcing the Cabinet expansion along with the distribution of portfolios.
"Although currently we have a total of 208 legislators in the 294-seat West Bengal Assembly, many of them are first-time legislators with no prior legislative experience. At the same time, our leadership wants to ensure representations from all districts in the state Cabinet. So, it is taking some time to announce the full Cabinet along with portfolio distribution," the state committee member added.