Cabinet reshuffle on cards, 4-5 new faces likely to get inducted: Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata, Aug 1: Rubbishing media reports about the possible dissolution of state cabinet, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that a reshuffle was on the cards, with four to five new faces expected to get inducted in the council of ministers.
Banerjee also said that several departments were currently functioning without any dedicated minister, and it wasn't possible for her to shoulder responsibilities of these alone.
"We have to reshuffle our Cabinet. But (I) do not have any plan to dissolve the Cabinet and come up with a new one. There are several departments which has no one at the helm. I alone cannot shoulder (the) responsibilities of all these departments," Banerjee told reporters.
"We will introduce four to five new faces in the Cabinet. The reshuffle will be carried out on Wednesday," the chief minister added.
Departments of Panchayat, Public Health Engineering, Consumer Affairs & Self Help Group are currently looked after by Banerjee.
After Partha Chatterjee was relieved of his ministerial duties, following his recent arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the school job scam, portfolios held by him industries and parliamentary affairs were also taken over by the TMC boss.
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ED arrests Jharkhand minister Alamgir Alam in money laundering case
Ranchi, May 15: The Enforcement Directorate Wednesday arrested Congress leader and Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam in a money laundering case, official sources said.
The 70-year-old was taken into custody at the agency's zonal office here under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after about six hours of interrogation on the second day of questioning, the sources said.
He was grilled by the federal agency Tuesday for over nine hours and his statement was also recorded.
The agency had last week arrested Alam's personal secretary and state administrative service officer Sanjeev Kumar Lal (52) and the latter's domestic help Jahangir Alam (42) following the seizure of more than Rs 32 crore cash from a flat linked to them.
The money laundering investigation pertains to alleged irregularities and payment of "bribes" in the state rural development department.
While seeking the remand of the two arrested persons, the ED had informed a special PMLA court here that Lal collected "commission" on behalf of some influential people and that government officials from "top to bottom" in the rural department are involved in the alleged illegal cash payments nexus.
The total seizure of cash by the ED in this case has been recorded at around Rs 36.75 crore as the agency seized about Rs 3 crore from other locations including Rs 10.05 lakh from Lal's place and Rs 1.5 crore from a contractor's place.
