KOLKATA: Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari was on Friday elected the leader of the BJP legislature party in West Bengal, paving the way for him to become the first BJP chief minister in the state.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced Adhikari's election and described it as a unanimous endorsement during a meeting of the newly elected BJP MLAs and senior party leaders.
"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 after the meeting.
Adhikari's elevation paves the way for the formation of the first BJP government in West Bengal after the party's emphatic victory in the assembly elections, ending the Trinamool Congress's 15-year rule in the state.
Adhikari, a former close aide of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, who switched over to BJP in December 2020, emerged as the central face of the saffron party's campaign in Bengal and played a key role in expanding its organisational base across the state.
His political stature rose sharply after he defeated Banerjee in the high-voltage Nandigram contest in the 2021 assembly elections. In 2026, he again defeated Banerjee, this time in her Bhabanipur seat.
The swearing-in ceremony of the new BJP government will be held at the Brigade Parade Ground here on May 9 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah and several senior BJP leaders, party sources said.