Suvendu Adhikari’s swearing-in marks the beginning of West Bengal’s first-ever Bharatiya Janata Party                  (BJP)-led government since Independence.

Kolkata: Suvendu Adhikari was on Saturday sworn in as West Bengal’s first BJP Chief Minister at a ceremony held at Brigade Parade Ground here, marking the beginning of a new era of “peace and prosperity” under a “double-engine” administration. Governor RN Ravi administered the oath of office to Adhikari as the next Chief Minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, several Union ministers, and chief ministers of NDA-ruled states graced the swearing-in ceremony, witnessed by thousands of party workers and supporters.

Ahead of the oath ceremoeny, Adhikari described the occasion as the fulfilment of the “dreams of our founding fathers”.

On Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah officially made the announcement after the decision was taken at the BJP legislature party meeting in presence of newly-elected BJP legislators at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in Newtown. Shah, who presided over the meeting, said all proposals were in favour of Adhikari and no second proposal was received. He was unanimously elected as the legislative party leader of the BJP MLAs.

“The process of selecting the leader of the party’s legislative party in the state assembly has been completed. A total of eight proposals were received. In all the proposals, there was just one name. Enough time was given for any proposal for a second name. But no second name was proposed. So, I proposed the name of Suvendu Adhikari as the next Chief Minister of West Bengal,” HM Shah said in the meeting.

The BJP secured a sweeping victory in the recently concluded West Bengal assembly elections, winning 207 seats. This time, Adhikari got elected simultaneously from his native Nandigram assembly constituency in East Midnapore district and Bhabanipur assembly constituency in South Kolkata. At Bhabanipur, he defeated his predecessor and the former Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, by a margin of over 15,000 votes.

Adhikari first earned the ‘giant‑killer’ tag in the 2021 Assembly elections after defeating Banerjee from Nandigram. In 2026 again, he unseated the Trinamool Congress chief, consolidating his position as the unanimous choice to lead the BJP’s first government in the state.