The announcement was made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah after chairing a crucial BJP legislature party meeting in Kolkata. Declaring Adhikari as the party’s Chief Ministerial face, Shah said that Suvendu Adhikari had been elected as the Leader of the West Bengal BJP Legislative Party.
According to sources, Adhikari is scheduled to meet Governor R. N. Ravi at 6:30 PM on Friday to formally stake claim to form the government. He is expected to take oath on Saturday, coinciding with Rabindra Jayanti, marking the birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. The BJP is likely to project the occasion as the beginning of a new political chapter in Bengal.
Adhikari’s elevation has also ended speculation surrounding the proposed two-Deputy Chief Minister arrangement. Although senior BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya had earlier indicated that the party might reconsider the formula, Adhikari’s formal selection as the undisputed leader has now clarified that the BJP will not appoint two Deputy Chief Ministers in the state.
Earlier discussions within the BJP leadership had reportedly focused on appointing two Deputy Chief Ministers, including at least one woman, to ensure broader regional and social representation in the cabinet. Among the names considered for senior leadership positions were Agnimitra Paul and Nisith Pramanik, while the party was also exploring tribal and North Bengal representation in the government.
Pramanik had openly endorsed Adhikari’s candidature before the official announcement, describing him as the strongest BJP leader in Bengal politics. He stated that the leader who had defeated Mamata Banerjee twice and dedicated his life to the party and the nation was the leader Bengal required as Chief Minister. He further asserted that there was currently no alternative to Suvendu Adhikari in the state.
Often referred to within BJP circles as the “giant slayer” of Bengal politics, Adhikari contested from Nandigram and Bhabanipur in the Assembly elections and defeated Mamata Banerjee in her political stronghold of Bhabanipur by a margin of more than 15,000 votes.
A former heavyweight leader of the All India Trinamool Congress, Adhikari joined the BJP ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections and rapidly emerged as the saffron party’s most aggressive political face against Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress.
The BJP created history in the 2026 Assembly elections by securing 207 seats in the 294-member Assembly, bringing an end to the Trinamool Congress government’s 15-year rule in West Bengal. The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress was reduced to 80 seats in one of the biggest electoral upsets in the state’s political history.
Sources indicated that discussions are continuing over cabinet formation, allocation of portfolios and the final structure of the swearing-in ceremony. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Nitin Nabin and several National Democratic Alliance chief ministers are expected to attend the oath-taking ceremony in Kolkata.
Suvendu Adhikari’s rise to the top post marks a defining political transformation in West Bengal, ending over a decade of Trinamool Congress dominance and establishing the BJP as the new ruling force in one of India’s most politically significant states.
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