The death of a veteran minister and the unavailability of a senior minister has posed a challenge to Mamta.
The death of a veteran minister and the unavailability of a senior minister pose a challenge to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to address the leadership vacuum in the government.
Subrata MukherjeeThe head, who held the Panchayat department, died on 4 November. Finance Minister Amit Mitra He also stayed away from the assembly elections and the recent by-elections, and as he is not elected to the assembly, he is almost out of the cabinet.
Not only did the two stalwarts have important portfolios, but they also brought vast experience and expertise on various issues. Mukherjee had a political career spanning over five decades and was one of the youngest ministers in the Siddhartha Shankar Rai government in the 1970s. He was also the Mayor of Kolkata. He had a hand in implementing schemes at the grassroots level, including the 100-day MGNREGA scheme.
Mr. Mitra, who has been the finance minister for the last 10 years, was instrumental in allocating funds for several populist schemes, which sometimes required the allocation of huge resources. He held the portfolio of industry and commerce for a long time, trying to sell the industry-hungry state as a favorable investment destination.
Consultant Appointment Opportunity
Despite Mr. Mitra’s unavailability, the chief minister wants his government to get his lawyer. She may appoint him as an advisor to the government in some capacity.
The Chief Minister is already in charge of key departments like Home and Hill Affairs, Health and Family Welfare, Information and Cultural Affairs, Minority Affairs. She can keep the finances with herself, while there may be a new minister in the Panchayat department.
Political observer and election scientist Vishwanath Chakraborty said that with Mukherjee’s death and Mr. Mitra’s unavailability to discharge duties as a minister, there are not many people in the cabinet who are senior to Ms. Banerjee.
“The government, especially the chief minister, will miss Subrata Mukherjee’s political acumen and Mr. Mitra’s economic wisdom,” said Professor Chakraborty, who heads the political science department of the Rabindra Bharati University.
Trinamool Congress has 217 MLAs in the assembly, out of which 294 are in total. Therefore, inducting new ministers or giving additional responsibility to ministers is not a difficult task.
Political observers like Professor Chakraborty feel that the Trinamool Congress is at the peak of its political dominance in the state and its influence can be compared to the days of the Left Front. Since the people overwhelmingly supported the Trinamool Congress in the recent assembly elections, it will have to hand over the ministerial responsibilities of important portfolios like finance and panchayats to its best leaders.
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