Historic Bengal power shift: Suvendu Adhikari set to be sworn in as first BJP CM today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, several senior Union ministers, and nearly 20 chief ministers from BJP-ruled states are expected to attend the high-profile event, marking the inauguration of West Bengal’s first-ever BJP government.

West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been invited to the ceremony as per protocol.

Targeting the outgoing Trinamool Congress government, Bhattacharya told reporters, “The people of Bengal have uprooted the maha jangal raj after 15 years of misrule.”

Adhikari, once considered one of Banerjee’s closest associates, scripted a stunning political upset by defeating her from the prestigious Bhabanipur Assembly seat, long regarded as a Trinamool Congress stronghold.

Apart from Bhabanipur, Adhikari also retained Nandigram, the constituency where he had handed Banerjee a historic defeat in the 2021 Assembly elections.

The results of the 2026 Assembly polls were declared on Monday, and Adhikari’s name was formally cleared for the top post during the BJP legislature party meeting held in Kolkata in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Addressing the media after the meeting, Shah said all BJP legislators unanimously backed Adhikari’s candidature for chief minister.

The BJP secured a historic mandate in the recently concluded Assembly elections, ending the 15-year rule of the All India Trinamool Congress and handing one of the biggest political defeats to Banerjee.

On May 5, Banerjee had refused to resign as Chief Minister, alleging that the poll outcome was the result of a “conspiracy” rather than the people’s mandate.

Once a senior Trinamool Congress leader and a trusted lieutenant of Banerjee, Adhikari severed ties with the party in 2020 amid growing internal tensions and joined the BJP soon after.

Following his switch, he rapidly emerged as one of the BJP’s most aggressive and visible faces in Bengal politics.

His hardline stance on governance, border security, illegal immigration, and law-and-order issues helped him carve out a distinct political identity, making him one of the most polarising yet central figures in the state’s evolving political landscape.

Adhikari’s political rise began in the late 1990s through grassroots politics in Purba Medinipur, where his family has long wielded considerable political influence.

His stature grew significantly during the 2007 Nandigram movement — a watershed moment in Bengal politics that propelled him into Banerjee’s inner circle.

He later served as a Member of Parliament after winning the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 and 2014.

In 2021, Adhikari cemented his place as Bengal’s most prominent opposition leader by defeating Banerjee in the high-stakes Nandigram contest.

Over time, internal differences within the Trinamool Congress — particularly over the growing influence of Abhishek Banerjee — widened the rift between Adhikari and the party leadership, ultimately leading to his dramatic exit.

Since joining the BJP, Adhikari has closely aligned himself with the party’s ideological framework, emerging as one of the fiercest critics of the Trinamool Congress government.

His transformation from a regional Trinamool organiser to the BJP’s principal Bengal strategist has dramatically reshaped the state’s political landscape, placing him firmly at the centre of West Bengal’s new power equation.