Suvendu Adhikari on Monday began his work journey as the BJP’s first Bengal chief minister by adopting the collaborative “We” model to ensure Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s idea of good governance.
The model was evident when the chief minister’s convoy reached BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya’s Salt Lake residence for a meeting on Monday morning. It was followed by Suvendu’s felicitation at the state BJP office before his car headed towards state secretariat Nabanna for his first cabinet meeting.
The chief minister and the BJP state unit chief arrived at the party’s state office in the same vehicle. There, they paid floral tributes to the portraits of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Deendayal Upadhyay and Bharat Mata.
Party insiders said the optics on the chief minister’s first working day made it clear that the state government would function in coordination with the party.
Bhattacharya made a key distinction between this government and the previous one. “Yes, it is certainly the ‘We’ model. The party will always coordinate with the chief minister but will never interfere in the functioning of the government. We will suggest steps to fulfil the promises in the BJP’s manifesto, but won’t mix the party and the government, as the Trinamool Congress had done,” Bhattacharya told The Telegraph.
On May 8, when Union home minister Amit Shah announced his name as Bengal’s first BJP chief minister, Suvendu had said the government would run on the principle of “We”, not “I”. After his first cabinet meeting, the chief minister repeated the
principle.
“This government will run on the principle of ‘We’, not amitto (individualism),” said the chief minister, adding Modi’s slogan: “Bhoy out, bhorsha in (fear out, trust in).”
The impression of coordination was also visible in the decisions at Suvendu’s first cabinet meeting, where major promises in the BJP’s manifesto were approved for implementation. These ranged from handing over land to the BSF within 45 days to make fences on the India-Bangladesh border to taking responsibility for the families of the 321 party workers allegedly killed during the TMC regime, which Union home minister Amit Shah had also repeatedly stressed in party meetings and rallies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also assured during the Bengal election campaign that the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme would be implemented in the first cabinet meeting, and Suvendu followed through on that promise.
Multiple senior officials said that during Mamata Banerjee’s regime, there was little distinction between the party and the government as she was the party supremo and chief minister.
During Mamata’s tenure, the BJP, including Suvendu, had repeatedly alleged that she used the chief minister’s chair to address political issues. BJP sources said the party would draw a line between the party and the government and would not allow the two to merge. BJP leaders want to be careful about keeping the two entities separate in their respective domains while maintaining close coordination and talks.
Many recalled that such party-government coordination was last seen during the Left regime, when Alimuddin Street used to coordinate closely with the chief minister’s office in the functioning of the government. However, a few years before the Left Front’s defeat in 2011, allegations that the government was completely controlled by the party had surfaced. BJP leaders said monitoring would continue to ensure the autonomy of the party and the administration.
“There was an attempt to maintain a thin line between the party and the government during Left rule. Under the TMC, there was no sign of such a line,” said the BJP state president.
A BJP national leader said the coordination would continue, and the Union government and central party leadership would keep tabs on how both the state government and the party liaised with each other. “The ultimate target is to ensure good governance, restore law and order in Bengal, and end institutional corruption during the TMC regime,” said the leader.
A BJP veteran noted: “Since taking oath as the chief minister, Suvendu da has become very careful about making political comments. During his first news meet as chief minister, he did not utter political remarks.”