Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari was on Friday elected the leader of the BJP legislature party in West Bengal, paving the way for him to become the first BJP chief minister of the state.
BJP sources said Adhikari's name was proposed at the legislature party meeting here and formally announced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the presence of newly elected BJP MLAs and senior party leaders.
"Eight proposals were received, and all of them had only one name. Adequate time was given for a second name, but no other name was proposed. Therefore, I announce Suvendu Adhikari as the chief minister of West Bengal," Shah said after the meeting.
Adhikari is Bengal's second chief minister from Purba Medinipur after Ajoy Mukherjee, the former chief minister of Bengal who was from Tamluk. Mukherjee served three short terms as the CM of Bengal. During that time Medinipur was still a single, undivided district.
Adhikari is going to be the ninth chief minister of Bengal.
Around 6.30 pm today, Adhikari is expected to reach Lok Bhavan before proceeding to Raj Bhavan with letters of support from BJP MLAs staking claim to form the government.
Governor RN Ravi dissolved the state assembly on Thursday (May 7), clearing the legal path for the new administration.
The swearing-in ceremony of the new BJP government will be held at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on May 9 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president Nitin Nabin, Union ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states.
Adhikari, who joined the BJP in December 2020 after leaving the Trinamool Congress, where he had once been a close associate of Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee, emerged as the clear choice. He defeated Mamata in Nandigram in 2021 and more recently won the Bhabanipur seat, her traditional stronghold, by a margin of over 15,000 votes.