KOLKATA: In a reshuffle in the West Bengal cabinet, the wings of Babul Supriyo, the former BJP MP and Union minister who had defected to the TMC in 2021, were clipped on Monday by relieving him from his post as tourism minister.
Singer-turned-politician Supriyo will be in the state cabinet for two other departments—Information and Technology & Electronics and Non-conventional and Renewable Energy Sources, which he had been allotted after winning from Ballygunge Assembly constituency two years ago.
In the reshuffle, Indranil Sen was appointed as the new tourism minister.
The West Bengal Chief Minister made changes to the portfolios of several ministries before she left for Spain aiming to bring investments to Bengal.
Sources in the TMC said Supriyo’s wings were clipped owing to his sour relationship with Sen. “The chief minister was not happy with it. Sen is one of her loyal lieutenants while Supriyo had launched a scathing attack on the CM both before the 2019 general elections and the Assembly polls in 2021 and decided to join after being axed from the Union cabinet,” said a senior TMC leader.
Supriyo was the BJP MP from Asansol for two consecutive terms since 2014 before the TMC wrested the seat from the saffron camp in the by-election after he had defected to Mamata’s party.
The reshuffle also saw an increase in responsibilities for forest minister Jyotipriya Mallick, who also now oversees Industrial Reconstruction and Public Enterprises.