Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday announced Suvendu Adhikari as the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) West Bengal legislative caucus at a meeting of 207 party members in Kolkata, paving the way for his elevation as chief minister in the first BJP government in the state since independence.
“A meeting of our party was held in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. BJP national president and Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi nominated me as central observers. Elections are over. We received nearly eight proposals and all of them suggested the same name. We also gave time for a second name but none came. So, I declare Suvendu Adhikari as the president of the Bengal Legislative Party,” Shah said.
Adhikari, who defeated Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur and also won from Nandigram, will take oath at the Brigade Parade Ground on Saturday morning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also attend the event.
Shah, who formulated the Bengal election strategies, went straight to Dakshineswar temple and offered puja after landing in Kolkata around noon.
“I bow to the people of Bengal as they write history. We are determined to fulfill your aspirations,” he said in a post on X.
Adhikari, who was once a Trinamool Congress leader in East Midnapore district, held several positions in the Mamata Banerjee-led Bengal government. But he resigned from the government and Parliament in December 2020 to join the BJP at a rally attended by Amit Shah.
Mamata Banerjee challenged Adhikari in Nandigram in the 2021 state elections but lost by 1,956 votes, forcing her to contest a by-election in Bhabanipur months later to continue as chief minister.
Adhikari became the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly and remained Mamata Banerjee’s top contender for the chief minister’s post. This time, he is contesting from his Nandigram seat in East Midnapore for the third time and challenged Mamata Banerjee in her party’s Bhabanipur district. For a party that has not fielded two candidates in the past, this was the second test for Adhikari in a row.
In the two-phase Bengal elections, the BJP won a record 207 of the 294 Assembly seats, in contrast to the TMC’s 80 seats.
Mamata could not retain the Bhabanipur seat either, but refused to resign from the chief minister’s post, accusing the BJP, Election Commission and Central Armed Forces of rigging the elections. Governor RN Ravi dissolved the assembly late on Thursday and did not appoint Mamata as interim chief minister as was the case in the Congress.
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