Suvendu Adhikari to Be Sworn In as West Bengal's First BJP Chief Minister

Suvendu Adhikari will be sworn in as the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief Minister of West Bengal on Saturday, May 9. The ceremony will take place at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, several Union ministers, and chief ministers from NDA-ruled states are expected to attend the event.

The announcement was made on Friday following a meeting of newly elected BJP legislators in Kolkata, chaired by Amit Shah. Shah stated that the process to elect the BJP legislature party leader was completed unanimously. He noted that eight proposals were received, all containing only one name—Suvendu Adhikari. Shah added that sufficient time was given for any alternative proposal, but no second name was put forward. He then formally proposed Adhikari as the next Chief Minister of West Bengal.

The BJP achieved a historic victory in the recently concluded Assembly elections, the results of which were declared on May 4. The party ended the 15-year rule of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Mamata Banerjee. This marks the first BJP-led government in West Bengal since Independence. The West Bengal Assembly was formally dissolved on May 7 as preparations began for the formation of the new government.

Suvendu Adhikari contested and won from two constituencies: Nandigram in East Midnapore and Bhabanipur in Kolkata. In Bhabanipur, he defeated Mamata Banerjee by more than 15,000 votes. Adhikari first earned the "giant killer" image in the 2021 Assembly elections after defeating Banerjee in Nandigram, a politically symbolic contest that transformed Bengal politics. With his second major victory over Banerjee, Adhikari has now emerged as the BJP's strongest political face in the state and the unanimous choice to lead the party's first government in Bengal.