Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], May 9 (HBTV): Five BJP leaders—Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Ashok Kirtania, Kshudiram Tudu and Nisith Pramanik—took oath as ministers in the West Bengal cabinet as Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as the state's first BJP Chief Minister.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah attended the swearing-in ceremony held in Kolkata. Rajnath Singh, JP Nadda, Dharmendra Pradhan, along with Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami, were also present at the event.
BJP leaders on Friday extended their wishes to Suvendu Adhikari after he was named the Leader of the BJP Legislature Party in West Bengal.
Earlier, on May 4, Adhikari established a dominant position in two of West Bengal's most closely watched constituencies, Bhabanipur and Nandigram, winning both seats.
According to figures from the Election Commission of India (ECI), after the 20th and final round of counting in Bhabanipur, Adhikari defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by a margin of 15,105 votes. He also secured victory in the Nandigram assembly seat, receiving 1,27,301 votes at the conclusion of the final round of counting.
The BJP won 207 seats in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) secured 80 seats after ruling the state for 15 years.
West Bengal recorded one of its highest voter turnouts, with 91.66 per cent polling in Phase II of the Assembly elections. In Phase I, voter participation stood at 93.19 per cent, taking the combined turnout to 92.47 per cent.
The 2026 West Bengal Assembly election results mark a significant political shift, ending Mamata Banerjee's long tenure and bringing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power with a commanding majority. This represents a major setback for the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), which saw a sharp decline in its seat share. (ANI)