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The oath-taking was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, chief ministers of NDA-ruled states, senior BJP leaders and thousands of party workers from across the state.
Suvendu Adhikari takes oath as West Bengal’s first BJP CM at a mega Kolkata event; 5 ministers inducted for nowSuvendu Adhikari took oath on 9 May as Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) first chief minister of West Bengal at Kolkata's Brigade Parade Ground.
The oath opens a new chapter in Bengal politics with the BJP marching to power in the state for the first time with 207 seats in the 294-member Assembly, effectively ending the 15-year rule of the Trinamool Congress, which was reduced to just 80.
The oath-taking was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, chief ministers of NDA-ruled states, senior BJP leaders and thousands of party workers from across the state.
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Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as West Bengal's first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief Minister on May 9th at Kolkata's Brigade Parade Ground.
The BJP secured 207 seats in the 294-member Assembly, ending the 15-year rule of the Trinamool Congress, which was reduced to 80 seats.
Along with Suvendu Adhikari, five other leaders were sworn in as ministers: Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Ashok Kirtania, Kshudiram Tudu, and Nisith Pramanik.
The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, chief ministers of NDA-ruled states, senior BJP leaders, and thousands of party workers.
Suvendu Adhikari's appointment marks the BJP's first time in power in West Bengal and signals the culmination of their long-term political expansion in the state. It also represents a significant shift after years of political polarization.
Along with Adhikari, five leaders who took oath as ministers include Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Ashok Kirtania, Kshudiram Tudu and Nisith Pramanik
For the BJP, the oath-taking ceremony is far more than a constitutional formality. The party is seeking to project it as the culmination of a decade-long political expansion in Bengal, a state that had for decades remained among the toughest frontiers for the saffron camp despite its sweeping dominance elsewhere in the country.
The venue holds massive political significance. The ground, which once served as the citadel of the Left's show of strength and later became a battleground for anti-Left and anti-BJP mobilisations, will for the first time host the swearing-in of a saffron government in Bengal.
Party leaders told newas agencies that the BJP intends to use the event to signal not merely a transfer of power but what it describes as the beginning of a "new political era" in the state after years of bitter and often violent political polarisation.
Congress to TMC and now BJP
For Adhikari, today ceremony marks the culmination of a dramatic political journey that saw him evolve from a grassroots Congress activist to one of the most influential leaders of the Trinamool Congress before eventually emerging as Mamata Banerjee's principal challenger.
Once regarded as one of Banerjee's closest aides and a key architect of the TMC's rise in rural Bengal, Adhikari crossed over to the BJP in 2020 amid deepening differences and rapidly became the saffron camp's most recognisable face in the state.
His victory over Banerjee in Nandigram in the 2021 assembly polls had already elevated him into a central figure in Bengal politics.
The BJP's emphatic victory this time has now placed Adhikari at the centre of the party's attempt to reshape the state's political landscape.
Adhikari, who hails from Purba Medinipur district, will also become Bengal's first chief minister in over five decades to come from the districts rather than Kolkata's traditional political establishment.
The last chief minister from Bengal's rural hinterland was Ajoy Mukherjee in 1970. Incidentally, Mukherjee too hailed from the undivided Medinipur region, long considered one of Bengal's most politically influential belts.
(With agency inputs)
About the Author
Gulam Jeelani
Gulam Jeelani is Political Desk Editor at LiveMint with over 16 years of experience covering national and international politics. Based in New Delhi, Jeelani delivers impactful political narratives through breaking stories, in-depth interviews, and analytical pieces at LiveMint since February 2024. The expertise in video production fuels his current responsibilities, which include curating content and conducting video interviews for an expanding digital audience.<br><br> Jeelani also travels during elections and key political events and has covered assembly elections in key states apart from national elections. He has previously worked with The Pioneer, Network18, India Today, News9Plus and Hindustan Times.<br><br> Jeelani’s tenure at LiveMint and previous experience at print and digital newsrooms have honed his skills in creating compelling text and video stories, explainers, and analysis that resonate with a diverse viewership.<br><br> Before moving to New Delhi in 2015, Jeelani was based in Uttar Pradesh, where he worked for five years as a reporter. In 2018, Jeelani was one of the two Indian journalists selected for the Alfred Friendly Fellowship in the US. There, he attended training workshops on reporting and data journalism, and he was attached to the Minneapolis Star Tribune in Minnesota, where he worked as a reporter.<br><br> Jeelani is a Bachelor's in Chemistry and holds a Masters Degree in journalism and mass communication from Aligarh Muslim University. Outside work, he enjoys poetry, cricket and movies.
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