Janjivan Bureau / Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as prime minister on May 30.
Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat that the invitation for the ceremony arrived on Tuesday and she will be attending it as “constitutional courtesy”.
“I have spoken to a couple of other chief ministers and decided to attend it,” she said.
“There are certain ceremonial programmes under the Constitution. We try to attend such programmes when get invitation for swearing-in programmes of the president and the prime minister,” Banerjee added.
State Cabinet reshuffled after poll drubbing
The West Bengal Chief Minister made major changes in her cabinet today following the drubbing her party, Trinamool Congress, received in the Lok Sabha elections.
Transport Minister Suvendu Adhikary was entrusted with two more departments of Irrigation and the Water Resources Investigation and Development (WRI&D), she told reporters at the state secretariat.
Bratya Basu has been given additional charge of the Forest Department along with his portfolio of the Science and Technology and Biotechnology Department, Banerjee said.
Minister for Fire Department Sujit Bose was made the Minister of State of the Forest Department.
Somen Mahapatra, who was the Minister for Water Resources Investigation & Development, was given the charges of Environment and Pollution and the Public Health Engineering Department (PHE), she said.
Malay Ghatak will now look after the Labour and Law department, the chief minister said.
Rajib Banerjee, who was in-charge of the Backward Class Welfare Department, will also look after the SC, ST and the Tribal Affairs Department, Banerjee said.
Senior TMC leader Subrata Mukherjee, who lost to BJP’s Subhas Sarkar in the Bankura Lok Sabha seat, was retained as Panchayat Minister.
Chandrima Bhattacharyya, who was the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing, was also given the additional responsibility as Minister of State for Panchayat Department.
Former Forest Department Minister Binay Krishna Barman and Western Region Development Minister Shantiram Mahato were kept as ministers without any portfolio, she said.
