Bengal reset: BJP names Suvendu Adhikari chief minister

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday formally named Suvendu Adhikari as the next chief minister of West Bengal, sealing a landmark political transition after the party’s sweeping assembly election victory ended the Trinamool Congress’s 15-year rule in the state.

The announcement was made at the BJP legislature party meeting in Kolkata, attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who served as the party’s central observer, and Mohan Charan Majhi as co-observer.

Senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh proposed Adhikari’s name during the meeting, with the newly elected legislators backing the move unanimously.

“I announce the name of Suvendu Adhikari as the elected leader of the West Bengal BJP Legislative Party,” Shah said after the meeting.

The decision crowns a dramatic political rise for Adhikari, once regarded as one of Mamata Banerjee’s closest lieutenants in the Trinamool Congress before he switched to the BJP in late 2020.

His defection proved to be a turning point in Bengal politics. Adhikari went on to defeat Banerjee in the high-profile Nandigram contest during the 2021 assembly election and later consolidated his standing within the BJP by wresting control of Bhabanipur — long seen as Banerjee’s political bastion — with a margin of more than 15,000 votes.

The BJP’s victory in last month’s election delivered a major setback to the Trinamool Congress, which had governed the state since 2011.

Party leaders described Adhikari’s appointment as a reflection of the BJP’s strategy to project a strong regional face capable of consolidating its gains in the politically crucial eastern state.

The transition also signals a major shift in Bengal’s political landscape, with the BJP moving from opposition challenger to governing party after years of aggressive expansion in the state.