“In the last 11 years, there have been very few instances of a cabinet reshuffle, and those too were minor ones. This time though, the situation is different," a senior TMC MLA said as reported by news agency PTI.
"Never before have been plans to induct four-five new faces and drop a similar number from the cabinet. So, this is likely to be one of the biggest reshuffles since our party came to power in the state," a senior TMC MLA said.
The CM had announced the cabinet reshuffle after the arrest of heavy-weight (now-suspended) leader Partha Chatterjee in a multi-crore SSC scam. As per sources close to TMC, the move is likely to give an image makeover to the party following the scam probe. However, Sources close to PTI revealed last week that a cabinet reshuffle was already on the cards but Chatterjee's arrest hastened the process.
Which are the new faces that are likely to be inducted?
Some of the names that have been considered by CM Banerjee are Babul Supriyo, Tapas Ray, Partha Bhowmick, Snehasis Chakraborty and Udayan Guha, TMC sources said.
The imprint of Abhishek Banerjee was evident in the reshuffle in which several "non-performers" were axed, and some were relieved of organisational duties, paving their way for ministerial berths.
Supriyo, a former Union minister and BJP MP who quit the saffron party and joined the TMC after being dropped from the Union cabinet last year, is presently a TMC MLA from Ballygunge assembly constituency in Kolkata.
Ray, a former minister of state for parliamentary affairs, has been with the TMC since its formation in 1998.
Bhowmick and Chakraborty, considered close to TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in the party circles, have been relieved of their organisational responsibilities in North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts respectively.
Guha, a former Forward Bloc leader who had joined TMC after the 2016 assembly polls, is a frontrunner for induction into the cabinet from north Bengal.
Who are likely to be removed?
Apart from Partha Chatterjee, Paresh Adhikary, whose name had also cropped up in the school jobs scam, is likely to face the axe.
Minister Saumen Mahapatra, who has been assigned organisational responsibilities in Purba Medinipur district, is also likely to be relieved of his ministerial duties.
(With inputs from agencies)