Newly elected leader of the West Bengal BJP Legislative Party Suvendu Adhikari during a press conference in Kolkata on Friday | Photo Credit: ANI

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which recorded a landslide victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections, on Friday selected Suvendu Adhikari as the leader of its legislature party, paving the way for him to become the first BJP Chief Minister of the State.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who presided over the BJP legislature party meeting, said all the proposals were received in favour of Adhikari. The Chief Minister-designate later met Governor RN Ravi and staked a claim to form the first BJP-led government in Bengal.

Addressing newly-elected BJP MLAs, Adhikari declared that the new government will fulfil all promises made in the saffron party’s election manifesto and work in coordination with the Centre to realise the aspirations of the people to create a Sonar Bangla.

“Our leader Narendra Modi has given several guarantees, and the BJP government will work to fulfil every one of them. We do not believe in mere words, we believe in delivering through action. We speak less and work more,” he said.

Adhikari told party legislators that the government will remain committed to the ideology of the BJP and to the cultural spirit of West Bengal. “We will fulfil every promise made in our manifesto within the stipulated time,” he said.

The oath-taking ceremony of the new government will be held on Saturday at the historic Brigade Parade Grounds. Notably, Adhikari had long been seen as the frontrunner for the top post, especially after senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, repeatedly stressed during the election campaign that Bengal would get a “son of the soil” CM.

aggressive style

Adhikari’s rise in the State’s political landscape was marked by his aggressive style and strong positions on issues such as law and order, illegal immigration and governance against the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government.

Riding on a massive anti-incumbency wave against the Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government, the BJP recorded a historic landslide victory in the Assembly elections. The saffron party’s win ended 15 years of TMC rule and marked a watershed moment for the party as it dismantled Banerjee’s bastion through an all-gun blazing election campaign. The party won 207 seats, reducing the Trinamool to just 80 in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly.

Addressing BJP MLAs and senior leaders, Shah described the party’s emphatic victory in Bengal as far more than an electoral milestone, portraying it as a decisive political shift tied to national security, democratic restoration and the ideological culmination of a journey that began with Syama Prasad Mookerjee in the early 1950s.

“Friends, this victory is not merely about BJP’s expansion or its ideology. Nor is it only about BJP-NDA forming a government in its 21st state. The biggest importance of this victory is that it plugs one of the biggest holes in India’s national security. Now, infiltration and cow smuggling will become impossible in West Bengal,” Shah added.

Published on May 8, 2026