KOLKATA, 9 May: Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday took oath as the first BJP chief minister of West Bengal, marking a watershed moment that redrew the state’s political landscape after decades of resistance to saffron politics.
Governor RN Ravi administered the oath of office and secrecy to Adhikari at a grand ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union ministers, chief ministers of NDA-ruled states and senior BJP leaders.
Soon after Adhikari’s swearing-in, senior BJP leader and the party’s former state unit chief Dilip Ghosh took oath as a minister in the new Cabinet.
BJP MLAs Agnimitra Paul, Ashok Kirtania, Nisith Pramanik and Kshudiram Tudu were also administered the oath as ministers.
The BJP chose Brigade Parade Grounds – once the citadel of massive Left rallies and later a key battleground of the TMC – for the swearing-in ceremony.
Thousands of BJP supporters thronged the venue, waving saffron flags and raising the ‘Jay Shri Ram’ slogan as Adhikari, one of the principal architects of the BJP’s rise in Bengal, took oath amid elaborate security arrangements.
The BJP secured 207 seats in the 294-member Assembly in the recently concluded elections, ending the Trinamool Congress’ 15-year rule and scripting its most significant breakthrough in eastern India.
The ceremony was attended by senior BJP leaders, MPs, industrialists and film personalities, with the saffron camp projecting the event as the beginning of a ‘Sonar Bangla’ under a ‘double-engine’ government.
Adhikari, who defeated TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee in the Assembly Bhabanipur seat and retained his Nandigram constituency, was unanimously elected leader of the BJP legislature party on Friday in the presence of union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Khandu congratulates Adhikari
Meanwhile, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Saturday congratulated Adhikari on taking oath as the first BJP chief minister of West Bengal and expressed confidence that the state would witness a “new era of development and good governance.”
Khandu said the people of West Bengal can look forward to an era “where every corner of the state thrives, every voice is heard, and every dream finds its ground.”
“A new chapter for West Bengal is about to begin. One that will be written with the ink of development, peace and harmony,” Khandu posted on X, after witnessing the swearing-in ceremony in Kolkata.
Extending his wishes to the new chief minister, Khandu credited the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union Home Minister Amit Shah for the BJP’s rise in West Bengal.
“Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the dynamic guidance of union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah, I am confident that West Bengal will witness a new era of transformation, development, and good governance,” he said.
Khandu expressed hope that West Bengal would emerge from “decades of fear and uncertainty” and move towards “peace, prosperity, and renewed confidence.” (PTI)