Kolkata, May 8: In a landmark political development, Suvendu Adhikari has been announced as the next Chief Minister of West Bengal, becoming the first BJP leader to head a government in the state. Union Home Minister Amit Shah formally declared Adhikari’s name on Friday, following the BJP’s historic sweep in the 2026 assembly elections.

The announcement marks a breakthrough for the BJP, which has long struggled to dislodge regional and Left forces from Bengal’s political landscape. The party secured a decisive mandate, winning 207 of the 293 seats it contested in the 294-member House, paving the way for its first-ever government in the state.

Adhikari’s elevation was widely anticipated, with BJP leaders repeatedly stressing during the campaign that Bengal would get a “son of the soil” chief minister rooted in the state’s linguistic and cultural identity. His symbolic victory over outgoing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur, her traditional stronghold, cemented his stature as the face of Bengal’s political transformation. Adhikari also retained his bastion in Nandigram, the constituency that catapulted him to prominence during the 2007 anti-land acquisition movement.

Speaking earlier this week in Nandigram, Adhikari acknowledged his dual victories and promised to vacate one seat within ten days, leaving the final decision to the BJP leadership. “I will not forget my responsibility towards the people of Bhabanipur and Nandigram,” he said, while supporters urged him to remain in Nandigram, which he often describes as his political citadel.

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Adhikari’s political journey mirrors Bengal’s shifting dynamics. Once a close aide of Mamata Banerjee in the Trinamool Congress, he played a pivotal role in the Nandigram agitation that ended the Left Front’s 34-year rule in 2011. His defection to the BJP ahead of the 2021 assembly polls reshaped Bengal politics, laying the foundation for the saffron party’s eventual rise to power.

Addressing party workers after the BJP’s victory, Adhikari described the moment as the “real change” in Bengal politics. “I was part of the 2011 poribartan, and now I am part of the real change,” he said, projecting confidence about the BJP’s long-term future in the state. He added that the party would work to ensure “the BJP government in Bengal stays for 100 years.”

With his swearing-in imminent, Suvendu Adhikari’s rise signals a new chapter in Bengal’s political history, ending Mamata Banerjee’s 15-year reign and ushering in the BJP’s era in the state.