In the last 10 years, he has walked a tightrope between managing the state's debt problem and mobilising resources for Banerjee's numerous social schemes - Kanyashree (financial assistance to girls for pursuing higher education), Krishak Bandhu (for farmers and sharecroppers), Swasthya Sathi (universal health scheme), Lakshmir Bhandar (basic income support for women) are the show-stopping ones. It's not hard to fathom why Mitra is important to Banerjee. These range from 'advising and aiding the chief minister and finance department on all matters relating to management of state finance' to 'representing the state government in national and international events/meetings/committees and examining important proposals/files and policy issues relating to financial matters referred to him for advice/views'. Mitra will have the rank of a cabinet minister and from the finance department's notification, he appears to have sweeping responsibilities, raising eyebrows in administrative circles. IMAGE: Amit Mitra with Minister of State for Finance Chandrima Bhattacharya.
Mitra did not contest the 2021 assembly election on health grounds but continued as finance minister when the government was formed. In two years, he was handed the additional responsibility of industry and then information technology, portfolios that he held till the assembly elections earlier this year. When the government was formed, Mitra was appointed state finance minister. His opponent - Amit Mitra - a PhD in economics from Duke University and secretary general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) - was preparing to give up the high-brow world of sharp suits and thin ties for the heat and dust of politics.īanerjee's party decimated the Left and Mitra became one of the many giant slayers in the historic elections that saw the defeat of 26 ministers. Khardah was the turf of Asim Dasgupta, Bengal's longest-serving finance minister, a doctoral student of economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). West Bengal, 2011: The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress was looking to bring the Left Front's 34-year rule to a halt.Īmid a raging battle across the state, one assembly constituency - Khardah in North 24 Parganas - was drawing attention.