Bengal's New Adhikari: Suvendu Sworn in as State's First BJP Chief Minister

West Bengal scripted a new chapter in its political history on Saturday as Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as the state’s first BJP Chief Minister , ending the Trinamool Congress’ 15-year stranglehold over one of India’s most politically contested states. Governor RN Ravi administered the oath of office and secrecy to Adhikari at the iconic Brigade Parade Grounds in Kolkata , amid thunderous chants of “ Jai Shri Ram ,” drumbeats, and a sea of fluttering saffron flags.

Along with Adhikari, five other BJP MLAs were sworn in as ministers in the new cabinet, former state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh , Agnimitra Paul , Ashok Kirtania , Nisith Pramanik , and Kshudiram Tudu . Ghosh, the OBC face of the BJP and a long-standing RSS leader, is widely expected to be named Deputy Chief Minister , while Pramanik, a prominent Rajbonshi leader from North Bengal , brings with him experience as Union Minister of State for Home Affairs in the Modi cabinet. Prime Minister Narendra Modi , Union Home Minister Amit Shah , and Chief Ministers of NDA-ruled states attended the grand ceremony, as thousands of BJP supporters poured into Kolkata, turning the Brigade Parade Grounds into a vast ocean of saffron.

Before the oath-taking, Prime Minister Modi paid tribute to the party’s oldest living foot soldier. Modi touched the feet of 98-year-old BJP veteran Makhanlal Sarkar and sought his blessings on stage, in a moment that underlined the BJP’s long and arduous journey in the state. Sarkar was arrested in Kashmir in 1952 while accompanying Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee during the movement to hoist the Indian tricolour, and had served continuously for seven years as district president in Left Front-ruled West Bengal from 1981 onward.

Modi’s address to the nation framed the 2026 verdict as a decisive rupture with the past, declaring “From today, Bengal is fearless. Bengal has changed”, deliberately invoking the word “poriborton,” a term long associated with TMC’s own political identity. He also invoked Syama Prasad Mookerjee , saying he dreamt of a self-reliant Bengal. Striking a conciliatory note, Modi called for transformation over retribution, saying “Not badla, but badlav. Not bhay, but bhavishya”, not revenge, but change; not fear, but the future.

The swearing-in capped the BJP’s emphatic victory in the recent Assembly elections, in which the party won 207 of 294 seats , reducing the Trinamool Congress to just 80 seats . Adhikari’s personal triumph was equally symbolic, he defeated Mamata Banerjee in her Bhabanipur stronghold, the very seat she had used to re-enter the Assembly after losing Nandigram to Adhikari in 2021, while simultaneously retaining Nandigram itself.

With his swearing-in, Adhikari has become Bengal’s ninth Chief Minister and the first leader in 55 years to rise to the state’s top office from a district background, outside Kolkata’s traditional political establishment. Adhikari described the occasion as the beginning of a new era of peace and prosperity under a double-engine administration , declaring that the days of “Sonar Bangla” , a golden Bengal, had officially begun.