The newborn West Bengal government, headed by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, made its first cabinet expansion move on Monday, June 1. In an impressive oath-taking ceremony conducted at Raj Bhavan, Governor R.N. Ravi administered the oath of office and secrecy to 35 newly inducted ministers under the watchful eyes of Chief Minister Adhikari along with the top brass of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The process of reconfiguration of West Bengal began at Nabanna as seven influential MLAs were sworn in as Cabinet Ministers. Three legislators took an oath as Ministers of State (Independent Charge), while 19 MLAs took an oath as Ministers of State (MoS).
Cricket pitch to political corridor
One of the notable faces joining the cabinet of Chief Minister Adhikari is former Team India fast bowler Ashok Dinda. The retired athlete took the oath of office as Minister of State.
Dinda won the recently held election to the West Bengal Assembly from the constituency of Moyna on the BJP ticket, defeating his nearest competitor, Chandan Mandal of All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), by a huge margin of 16,241 votes.
This is his second successive electoral triumph as a politician for the 42-year-old sports legend hailing from the Moyna constituency. Ashok Dinda had made his debut in politics during the assembly elections held in 2021 when he narrowly beat the TMC nominee, Sangram Dolui, by a slim margin of 1,260 votes. The consecutive electoral success has earned him an esteemed reputation as one of the most dependable mass leaders for the BJP in the state.
Career highlights of Ashok Dinda as a cricketer
Ashok Dinda ventured into politics in February 2021 after retiring from professional cricket. Ashok Dinda was the fastest bowling pace man before he turned politician.
International playing experience: Represented India for the first time during the year, December 2009 in the match against Sri Lanka.
International career performance: In total, the right-arm fast bowler had participated in 13 ODI matches in which he picked 12 wickets and in 9 T20 Internationals, picking 17 wickets.
Domestic level performance: He remained the chief fast bowler of the West Bengal team in the Ranji Trophy for about a decade.
Indian Premier League (IPL) profile
Alongside this, Dinda also had an imposing profile in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL), where he played 78 games and bagged 69 wickets. In his long career in the IPL, he donned the jersey of some distinguished franchises as follows:
- Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
- Delhi Capitals (DC)
- Pune Warriors India (PWI)
- Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
- Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS)
In connection with his appointment in the council of ministers in West Bengal, political pundits have remarked that Dinda has been able to transfer his aggressive sporting zeal from the field to the political arena.
