Kolkata 7 August : In the wake of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Wednesday a Reshuffle of her cabinet, introducing nine new members in the context of the multi-crore WBSSC recruitment scam, a large number of people suggested that the change was an attempt by the chief minister to portray an image of a “clean cabinet” image.The effort was evident in two specific choices in the change of government.
One was the selection of long-time party member Pradip Majumdar to the position of the panchayat rural development and affairs minister.This was lauded by political analysts.
Majumdar was the chief agricultural adviser for the state government ever since the time the Trinamool Congress came to power in 2011, was thought to be an ideal candidate for the job due to his extensive experience and an exceptionally clean image since there were frequent allegations of corruption in the administration of the panchayats.
The other option is giving the agriculture minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay an additional responsibility of the department of parliamentary affairs which was previously manned by Partha Chatterjee.Chatterjee was implicated in the WBSSC scam.A perfect illustration of the Bengali bhadralok (gentleman) and a persona that the ex- CM Jyoti Basu and Mamata Banerjee’s predecessor Buddhadeb Bhattacharya remain involved with, Chattopadhyay has a impeccable record in more than four years of his political life, whether in his previous association with the Congress or his current time with the Trinamool Congress.
Actually, he was the first Trinamool Congress representative in the West Bengal assembly way back in 1998.
However, many observers believe that the “clean cabinet” projections have been discolored due to the addition of three MLAs who have turned against the government who are a singer turned politician and twice-time BJP Lok Sabha member, Babul Supriyo, and two former All India Forward Bloc legislators, Udayan Guha and Tajmul Hossain.Supriyo as well as Guha were granted the electronics, information technology tourism department, as well as the north Bengal development department, respectively.
Guha’s remarks after being appointed an official on Wednesday afternoon has brought a bit of spice to the debate of the turncoat politics.”It is a wonderful day for me.My father was minister in the Left Front regime and now I am minister in the current Trinamool Congress regime,” said Guha the son of the late Kamal Guha, the heavyweight All India Forward Bloc minister of agriculture, marketing of agriculture as well as public health engineering in the Left Front regime in West Bengal.
“His statement is a candid admission that preserving the family heritage of the ministry was his primary goal.Be aware that Udayan Guha was the person who made the false accusation in the halls of the Assembly of the assembly that Border Security Force personnel sexually inflict physical harm on women in the villages bordering them in the name of frisking.
It is therefore clear how effective politician will become in the cabinet of the state,” stated BJP spokesperson in West Bengal, Samik Bhattacharya.
Similar to the case of the two-time All India Forward Bloc MLA from the Harischandrapur assembly constituency in Malda district from 2006 to 2016.”From 2011 until the year 2016, Tajmul was one of the Left Front MLAs against whom the current government had slapped many of criminal charges.However, all of those cases were dropped following the fact that he joined the Trinamool Congress before the 2016 West Bengal assembly elections.Now he is ministerial.If those criminal charges against him were legitimate then what makes he still a clean person today that he could even be being considered for a ministerial position.In reality, BJP on a national scale as well as Trinamool Congress at the state level are using the same pressure and money strategies to draw in officials from different parties.” explained CPI(M) central committee member Robin Deb.
The same logic could be applied in the situation of Babul Supriyo, feels an experienced state Congress leader and former three-time legislator Manoj Chakraborty.”After the Asansol riots, Supriyo as the former BJP Lok Sabha member from Asansol was accused of inciting tensions in the region and causing the violence.During his time with the BJP, Supriyo was the most active opponent of the state administration.My opinion is that Supriyo likes to be with celebrities, such as film stars and singers.
Supriyo, with his singing talent, is able to be a good fit for that.It is likely that he has the only qualification to be granted an appointment as a minister,” Chakraborty said.
As per political analyst Arundhati Mukerjee the trend of shifting parties has been so obvious in West Bengal since the past 10-12 years that it has become extremely difficult to separate out the partisans who are part of the ministerial sphere.
“Let me provide two examples.
In the earlier Left Front regime, the post of the land and reforms minister was thought to be the second-highest cabinet rank following the chief minister.The chair was previously held by Marxists such as Hare Krishna Konar and Benoy Choudhury.
In reality, after coming to the throne in West Bengal in 2011, Mamata Banerjee herself retained the department due to the importance of it in political affairs in the state.It is likely that nobody could have imagined that the former minister for land and land reforms of the Left Front regime, Abdur Rezzak Mollah who held the chair for a lengthy period and a few years, would be a part of the Trinamool Congress before the 2016 elections for the assembly and be content with the tiny portfolio of the minister of food processing,” Mukherjee said.
Then, she cited the example of the current Union civil aviation minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia.”The four-time Congress MP and son of Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia’s demise, his being a part of the BJP was another surprise for many.In the case of any party or politician, today what is important is power equations and the issue of ideological loyalty doesn’t come up.Therefore, there is no reason to be concerned about partisans getting ministerial positions.But surely , such inclusions could raise concerns about the “clean cabinet appearance of the chief minister.” she said.
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