Assembly elections 2016: Mamata set to induct new faces in Cabinet, Suvendu among frontrunners

Elections 2016: Big Winners & Losers

The most significant entrant to the Cabinet could be Suvendu Adhikari, the dynamic young face of the TMC and its sitting MP from Tamluk, who won from Nandigram by over 81,000 votes.

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Adhikari has been with Mamata since the Nandigram days. After the 2011 victory, the TMC chief had deployed Adhikari in the Junglemahal area to beat back Maoists, in what was touted as one of her government’s biggest achievements. The TMC won handsomely from Janglemahal this time.

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Another new face in the Mamata cabinet could be Siddiqullah Chowdhury, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind chief who fought from Mongalkote in Burdwan on a TMC ticket and wrested it from the Left after 39 years.

Abdur Rezzak Mollah, expelled from the CPM, won from Bhangar in South 24 Parganas and is also likely to become a minister. He has years of experience in land reforms. The inclusion of Chowdhury and Mollah would send a positive message to Mamata’s huge minority vote bank.

Also Read: Mamata wins big, remains Queen of Bengal

Among younger and newer leaders, cricketer Lakshmi Ratan Shukla who defeated star BJP face Roopa Ganguly could get the sports portfolio. The daughter of late Jagmohan Dalmiya, Vaishali, who won from Bally, could also become a Cabinet member.

On Thursday, Mamata said, “The verdict has shown how people disregarded all these Sarada-Narada issues,” she said. If this could be read as a clean chit by Mamata to at least four ministers who featured in the Narada sting, then some of them might be back in the Cabinet. Some of them, like Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, are close to Mamata.

Changes are expected in the party too. The new order was on display on Thursday, with spokesperson Derek O’Brien, party vice-president Mukul Roy and, most importantly, nephew Abhishek Banerjee flanking Mamata as she declared victory.

With Aniruddha Ghosal