BJP Picks Suvendu Adhikari As Bengal’s Next Chief Minister

KOLKATA- Union Home Minister Amit Shah on May 8 officially announced senior Bharatiya Janata Party  leader Suvendu Adhikari as the next Chief Minister of West Bengal, marking the beginning of the state’s first BJP-led government since Independence.

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Shah with newly elected BJP legislators following the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections, the results of which were declared on May 4.

Shah said the oath-taking ceremony would be held on May 9.

“The process of selecting the leader of the party’s legislative party in the state assembly has been completed. A total of eight proposals were received. In all the proposals, there was just one name. Enough time was given for any proposal for a second name. But no second name was proposed. So, I proposed the name of Suvendu Adhikari as the next Chief Minister of West Bengal,” Shah said at the meeting.

In the Assembly elections, Adhikari won from both the Nandigram Assembly constituency in East Midnapore district and the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency in south Kolkata.

At Bhabanipur, Adhikari defeated Trinamool Congress leader and former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by a margin of more than 15,000 votes.

Adhikari had first earned the “giant-killer” tag in the 2021 Assembly elections after defeating Banerjee in Nandigram. With his latest victory, he has once again defeated Banerjee, strengthening his position within the BJP ahead of leading the party’s first government in West Bengal. (IANS)