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Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of West Bengal on Saturday, marking the formation of the first BJP-led government in the State after the party recorded a landslide victory in the Assembly elections.
Governor RN Ravi administered 55-year-old Adhikari the oath of office and secrecy at the historic Brigade Parade Grounds, which witnessed a massive crowd as Bengal has undergone a tectonic political shift ending the 15-year of Trinamool Congress rule.
Adhikari, the BJP legislature party leader, inducted five ministers in the State cabinet. The legislators-- Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Ashok Kirtania, Kshudiram Tudu and Nisith Pramanik-- will serve in the new cabinet. The composition of the new cabinet highlighted the party’s attempt to balance caste and regional representation in the State.
Born in Karkuli village in Purba Medinipur district, Adhikari has been one of the principal architects of the BJP’s recent rise in Bengal. With the legislative experience of over 20 years, his 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. A former close aide of Banerjee in the TMC, Adhikari joined the BJP in December, 2020 ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections.
Coinciding with Rabindra Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, Saturday’s swearing-in ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief Ministers of other NDA and BJP-ruled states, BJP president Nitin Nabin, and several top central leaders of the party.
In a gesture of thanks to the people of West Bengal for propelling the saffron party to power for the first time in the State, Modi bowed to them for the massive electoral mandate.
In a post on social media, the Prime Minister said Suvendu Adhikari has made a mark as a leader who has remained deeply connected to the people and understood their aspirations from close quarters.
He said Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Ashok Kirtania, Kshudiram Tudu and Nisith Pramanik have worked tirelessly at the grassroots and served people. “I am confident they will further strengthen West Bengal’s development journey as ministers,” he added.
While Ghosh, who began his political journey through RSS, is a former State party president, Paul, a fashion designer-turned-politician, is Bengal BJP vice-president. Kirtania, a two-time MLA, is associated with the welfare of the Matua community. The Matuas, now form West Bengal’s second largest Scheduled Castes (SCs) population, migrated in different phases during the communal clashes in Bangladesh to different districts of the State.
Tudu, who represents the tribal community, is known as an important tribal face of the BJP in the State. And, Pramanik, considered one of the party’s prominent young faces in North Bengal, is a former Union Minister of state for Home Affairs.
“Massive loss”
After taking oath as West Bengal’s ninth chief minister, Suvendu Adhikari said the State saw “massive loss” across education and culture under the previous government and pledged to rejuvenate it. “I am now the CM for all people of Bengal. This is not the time for political criticism,” he said.
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 held last month. 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.
Published on May 9, 2026
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