Suvendu Adhikari elected BJP Legislature Party leader in Bengal

Suvendu Adhikari was elected leader of the BJP legislative party in West Bengal on Friday, May 8, 2026 and will be sworn in as the first BJP Chief Minister of West Bengal. The decision was taken at the BJP legislative assembly meeting in Kolkata in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Mr. Adhikari will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Bengal on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at the Brigade Parade in Kolkata.

West Bengal government formation LIVE

Mr. Shah, who chaired the party meeting in the BJP legislature, said all the proposals were taken in favor of Suvendu Adhikari.

Mr. Adhikari, 57, contested and won both the Nandigram and Bhabanipur seats in the recently concluded assembly polls. She defeated former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from Bhabanipur by 15,115 votes.

He is set to be sworn in as CM in the presence of Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and chief ministers of NDA-ruled states at the Brigade Parade in Kolkata on Saturday, May 9.

Hailing from West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district, Mr. Adhikari served as a Cabinet Minister in the Mamata Banerjee government from 2011 to 2020. He was also elected to the Lok Sabha several times. Mr. Adhikari defected to the BJP from the Trinamool Congress in December 2020 and served as the Leader of Opposition from 2021 to 2026.

She defeated Nandigram’s Mamata Banerjee by a margin of 1,956 votes in the 2021 Assembly elections.

Amit Shah: West Bengal ‘experienced a nightmare’ under Trinamool

Hitting out at West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “A situation has been created in Bengal, first by the communists and later by Mamata Banerjee, where it is difficult to exercise the right to vote freely.”

“West Bengal has experienced a nightmare in terms of law, order and economic development for five decades,” Mr. Shah added.

Addressing reporters after the BJP parliamentary party meeting in Kolkata, Mr Shah added: “The victory in West Bengal is important because after 100 years of ideological continuity. We have a government from every State, from Gangotri to Gangasagar. I feel Syama Prasad Mookerjee will bless the Narendra Modi government wherever he is there.”