A planned reshuffle of the West Bengal cabinet has been postponed, saving state finance minister Amit Mitra his job. The postponement was forced by the declining government-industry relations and a possible break-up with ally Congress. Instead, at a meeting with industry leaders in Kolkata on Monday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee spoke with industry minister Partha Bhattacharya and Amit Mitra flanking her.
According to a finance ministry source, Mitra has been upset for a while over the state of public finances. West Bengal has not been able to do much to raise revenues; It has not even placed a budget this fiscal and Banerjee has resisted fresh taxation.
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani did not attend the ‘Bengal Leads’ meeting, despite strong efforts; however, ITC chief Yogi Deveshwar and Jindal Steel chief Sajjan Jindal participated. The chief minister welcomed industry to invest in Bengal, saying it would open doors to Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and the entire northeast.
The reshuffle had to be postponed, sources said, since divisions between alliance partners Trinamool Congress and Congress widened on Monday. At a rally, Trinamool secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said: ?Some (Congress leaders) say the party does not exit from the back door, but the main entrance. We are telling them all doors are open for them.? The Congress, in turn, alleges the state has not pressed for a higher rice and jute MSP.
If Congress ministers resign, it would trigger a reshuffle. Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh is expected to reach Kolkata to calm tempers.
The industry, meanwhile, has been livid with the way the chief minister has handled the aftermath of the AMRI fire, keeping seven directors of the group including co-chairman of the promoter Emami Group RS Goenka, behind bars.
A government source also pointed out that while the chief minister has harped on performance, her own portfolios ? health, home, land ? have been under-performing.
?The reshuffle will happen after a month or two,? a source told FE. Banerjee will possibly bring in some new faces into the cabinet before the state goes for the panchayat polls next year.
Some of the ministers likely to be replaced are state water resources, investigation and development minister Soumen Mahapatra, an MLA from Tamluk constituency and agriculture minister Rabindranath Bhattacharya from Singur and youth services minister Ujjal Biswas and tourism minister Rachpal Singh.