Amit Shah
KOLKATA: BJP’s first Bengal cabinet will be a blend of party veterans and political debutants, with Suvendu Adhikari among the frontrunners for the CM’s post. Union minister Amit Shahand Odisha CM Mohan Majhi will chair the BJP legislative party meeting on Friday, where the legislative party leader — and consequently the CM — will be picked. Shah is expected to reach Kolkata on Friday morning and hold preliminary discussions with key state functionaries before meeting with newly elected MLAs at 4 pm. First-time MLAs in the running for cabinet berths include Ratna Debnath, mother of the RG Kar victim, Utpal Maharaj, a Bharat Sevashram Sangha monk expelled for entering politics, former IPS officer Rajesh Kumar and former NSG commando Dipanjan Chakraborty. Maniktala MLA Tapas Ray is being considered for the post of Speaker, while a woman MLA may be made deputy CM, sources said. A Bengal BJP senior, however, made it clear that the top brass will take the final call and “everything is currently in the discussion stage”. Senior functionaries said candidates with deep Sangh Parivar roots are likely to get priority. The party, they said, will rely on those with RSS links and veterans to spearhead its govt and organisation. The new cabinet will be designed to ensure ideological commitment and grassroots mobilisation while maintaining a focus on regional representation, Bengal BJP seniors said. In recent coordination meetings between the BJP and RSS, the latter emphasised prioritising ideological cohesion. “The party is focusing on candidates with a long history of working with the Sangh. Apart from that, it will try to accommodate more veterans,” a senior said. Veterans such as former national vice-president Dilip Ghosh and former state women’s wing head Agnimitra Paul are being considered for key portfolios. Former junior Union minister Nisith Pramanik, Barrackpore MLA Arjun Singh, two-time Murshidabad MLA Gouri Shankar Ghosh, former president of VHP’s Bengal unit Shruti Shekhar Goswami, former MP Roopa Ganguly, advocate Koustav Bagchi, Dipak Barman, Sajal Ghosh, Indranil Khan, and Joyel Murmu are also among the frontrunners for cabinet berths.
