Ex-Left Front minister appointed as chief advisor to Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata | Former Cabinet minister of the Left Front government Dr Abdus Sattar was on Tuesday appointed as the Chief Advisor to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Department of Minority Affairs & Madrasah Education, an official said.

Sattar was a cabinet minister in the erstwhile Left Front government and was a Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader.

"Sattar shall advise Banerjee and the Department of Minority Affairs & Madrasah Education on all matters relating to the welfare activities for the minorities of the state,” the official said.

Sattar shall be entitled to emoluments, allowances and perks as admissible to a cabinet minister of the state government, he said.

He may join the post after obtaining a lien from the institution he is currently serving as an associate professor.

In the 2006 assembly election, Sattar was elected from the Amdanga constituency. He was made minister of state for minority development, welfare and madrasah education in the Left Front government.

The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress ousted the 34-year-old Left Front government in 2011.