08 May,2026 05:49 PM IST | Kolkata | mid-day online correspondent
Amit Shah announces Suvendu Adhikari to be the next West Bengal CM. (Pic/Screengrab from X @BJPWestBengal)
Days after securing a landslide victory in the West Bengal State Assembly Elections 2026, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday announced that Suvendu Adhikari will be sworn in as the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) first Chief Minister in the state on Saturday, May 9.
Addressing the press, Shah said that the BJP's victory in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections marks a "historic political shift" in the state.
He said Suvendu Adhikari's leadership played a crucial role in the party's performance across Bengal.
Suvendu Adhikari, once a prominent leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), quit the party and joined the BJP on December 19, 2020, in the presence of senior BJP leaders. His switch from the TMC was seen as one of the biggest political setbacks for the ruling party at the time.
Despite facing disappointment in the 2021 state Assembly elections, Adhikari steadily strengthened his position within the BJP and emerged as one of the party's strongest faces in Bengal politics by 2026.
In the recently concluded Assembly elections, Adhikari delivered a major electoral upset by defeating sitting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency by a margin of more than 15,000 votes.
Political observers described the victory as a defining moment in West Bengal's political landscape.
The BJP's rise to power in West Bengal is being viewed as a landmark achievement for the party, which has long attempted to expand its presence in the eastern state traditionally dominated by the TMC and Left parties.
Amid the heated political scenario in West Bengal, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's close aide Chandranath Rath was shot dead in a chilling point-blank attack in Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas.
In a shocking incident on Wednesday, May 6, Rath was shot dead while returning home from a party programme in the Madhyamgram area of the North 24 Parganas district.
Rath sustained multiple gunshot injuries to his head, chest and abdomen. He was immediately rushed to Viva City Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Reacting to the incident, the Trinamool Congress issued a statement on social media platform X, condemning the violence and calling for strict action against those responsible.
"We strongly condemn the brutal murder of Chandranath Rath in Madhyamgram tonight, along with the killing of three other TMC workers in incidents of post-poll violence allegedly carried out by BJP-backed miscreants over the last three days, despite the Model Code of Conduct being in force," the party said in its statement.
