West Bengal chief minister-elect Suvendu Adhikari on Friday evening met Governor RN Ravi and formally staked claim to form the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal for the first time.
Senior BJP leaders, including Dilip Ghosh, Locket Chatterjee and Tapas Roy, accompanied Adhikari to Lok Bhavan.
The development came shortly after Adhikari was unanimously elected leader of the BJP legislature party during a meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Kolkata.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Adhikari thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Nitin Nabin and Amit Shah for reposing confidence in him.
“With the blessings of the Prime Minister, I have been elected as the Leader of the Legislative Party. I have received support from all MLAs. There is democracy in the BJP. We will fulfil all commitments made during the elections for the organisation and the people,” Adhikari said.
His election as BJP Legislative Party leader paves the way for him to become the first BJP Chief Minister in the history of West Bengal.
Announcing the decision after the legislature party meeting, Amit Shah said, “I announce the name of Suvendu Adhikari elected as Leader of West Bengal BJP Legislative Party.”
Meanwhile, BJP leader Nisith Pramanik strongly backed Adhikari as the party’s chief ministerial face, saying there was “no alternative” to him in the state at present.
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Pramanik said the BJP’s victory reflected the people’s desire for political change in West Bengal and added that issues such as infiltration and strengthening border fencing would be among the government’s priorities.
“The person who defeated Mamata Banerjee twice and sacrificed his life for the party and the country is the kind of leader Bengal needs. There is certainly no alternative to Suvendu Adhikari in Bengal right now,” he said.
Adhikari is scheduled to take oath as Chief Minister on Saturday, coinciding with the birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
Following his election, Adhikari also held meetings with newly elected BJP MLAs and senior party leaders in Kolkata ahead of government formation.
In the recently concluded Assembly elections, Adhikari contested from Nandigram and Bhabanipur, defeating Mamata Banerjee from Bhabanipur by a margin of over 15,000 votes in a major political upset.
The BJP secured a decisive mandate in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections by winning 207 seats, while the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which ruled the state for 15 years, was reduced to 80 seats.
(with ANI inputs)
