Swapan Dasgupta among 35 new mantris in Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari's govt

KOLKATA: First-time MLA Swapan Dasgupta, for long the intellectual voice championing BJP's vision for his native Bengal, was among the 35 new ministers sworn in Monday. This took the strength of chief minister Suvendu Adhikari's government to 41.Nine MLAs from north Bengal and six women took oath, raising the number of representatives from the northern districts in the state's first BJP ministry to 10 and women ministers to seven.13 legislators received cabinet rank, three were made ministers of state with independent charge and 19 as ministers of state."Portfolios will be distributed on Wednesday at a cabinet meeting to be chaired by the chief minister," said Tapas Roy, one of the new cabinet ministers alongside Dasgupta, who was elected from south Kolkata's Rashbehari.CM Adhikari's first cabinet expansion saw almost all communities with elected MLAs get representation, including Matuas, Rajbanshis and Kurmis.BJP didn't field any Muslim candidates in the election. The number of ministers representing backward classes stands at 15, which is 37% of the ministry's strength.Among the seven women ministers, Moumita Biswas Misra and Kalita Maji are first-time MLAs from East Burdwan.