With two days remaining for the first BJP government to take oath in West Bengal, speculations are rife about who will get to be the first saffron chief minister of the state. BJP’s ‘giant killer’ Suvendhu Adhikari still remains the frontrunner for the post of the Chief Minister, while state BJP chief Shamik Bhattacharya, Agnimitra Paul and Dilip Ghosh too seem to be in contention.
The crucial decision is likely to come at the special meeting of the MLA elects, which will be held on Friday at 4 pm, in which the party leader of the assembly and the next Chief Minister of the state will be formally elected. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is set to arrive in Kolkata on Thursday night to oversee the final process of government formation.
Speculation has already started about the cabinet ministers of the new government. According to sources, heavyweight names like Agnimitra Pal, Dilip Ghosh, Rupa Gangopadhyay and Rudranil Ghosh are in the possible ministerial list, according to Indian Express Bangla.
Tapas Roy is also seen as a contender for the ministerial berth or Speaker. Other names include Dr Sharadwat Mukherjee, Swapan Dasgupta. Sources indicate that Nishith Pramanik and Shankar Ghosh may get a place in the cabinet. Ashok Dinda's name is being considered for the Sports and Youth Welfare Department.
Former IPS officer Rajesh Kumar's name is also in the list of ministers due to his administrative experience. Piyush Kanoria's name is in discussion for the health department. Apart from this, there are plans to include some other new faces in the cabinet, including Saurabh Sikdar.
Jagannath Sarkar,Tarunjyoti Tiwari, Jitendra Tiwari, Indranil Khan, Shantanu Thakur,
Nishith Pramanik, Ashok Lahiri and Manoj Tigga could also be in the list.
