Kolkata: Suvendu Adhikari met Governor RN Ravi at Lok Bhavan on Friday and formally staked claim to form the government in West Bengal, hours after being elected leader of the BJP legislature party. Adhikari will take oath as Bengal’s ninth chief minister at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on Saturday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior NDA leaders.
Earlier on Friday afternoon, he was unanimously elected leader of the BJP legislature party in West Bengal, paving the way for him to become the state’s first BJP chief minister and marking a dramatic political shift after decades of regional dominance by the Left Front and the Trinamool Congress.
The announcement was made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah after a meeting of newly elected BJP MLAs and senior party leaders in Kolkata. “Eight proposals were received, and all of them had only one name. Adequate time was given for a second name, but no other name was proposed. Therefore, I announce Suvendu Adhikari as the chief minister of West Bengal,” Shah said.
Launching a blistering attack on former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee moments after Suvendu Adhikari was elected leader of the BJP legislature party, Shah said that TMC supremo had been defeated “inside her own home turf” of Bhabanipur.
“Didi, iss baar Suvendu Da ne aapke ghar mein aakar aapko haraya hai,” Shah said to loud cheers from BJP legislators and supporters.
Shah described the BJP’s rise in Bengal as the culmination of a long ideological struggle and said the state now had the responsibility of reclaiming its cultural identity.
“For five decades, Bengal’s culture and traditions were influenced by foreign ideologies. It is now our duty to revive the legacy of Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda,” he said.
Invoking BJP ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Shah said senior party workers had once told him that despite the abrogation of Article 370, something remained incomplete till the BJP firmly planted its flag in Bengal.
“Today, wherever Syama Prasad Mookerjee is, he must be blessing Narendra Modi for fulfilling that aspiration,” Shah said.
Adhikari is set to become the ninth chief minister of West Bengal and only the second chief minister from Purba Medinipur district after former chief minister Ajoy Mukherjee of Tamluk. Mukherjee had served three brief terms when Medinipur was still an undivided district.
The BJP’s victory in the Assembly elections has ended the Trinamool Congress’s 15-year rule in Bengal and marks the party’s first ascent to power in the state. Political observers view the result as a watershed moment in Bengal politics, where the BJP transformed itself from a marginal force into the ruling party within a decade.
Soon after his election, Adhikari addressed BJP legislators and supporters, promising to implement every commitment made in the party’s election manifesto.
“The people of Bengal have given us a historic mandate. We will fulfil all the promises made in the BJP’s poll manifesto in Bengal,” he said. Invoking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign slogan, Adhikari also declared that the atmosphere of fear in Bengal had ended.
“Bhoi (fear) is out and, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has said, bharosa is in,” he said to loud cheers from BJP MLAs and supporters.
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The chief minister-designate stressed that the new state government would work in close coordination with the Narendra Modi-led Centre to accelerate Bengal’s development.
According to BJP sources, Adhikari was expected to reach Lok Bhavan in the evening before proceeding to Raj Bhavan with letters of support from BJP MLAs to formally stake claim to form the government.
Governor RN Ravi had on Thursday dissolved the state Assembly, clearing the legal path for the formation of the new government.
The BJP is planning a grand public event to showcase its historic breakthrough in Bengal, a state that had long resisted the party’s electoral advances despite its growing national dominance.
