Suvendu Adhikari Takes Oath as First BJP CM of West Bengal
Governor RN Ravi administered the oath of office and secrecy to Adhikari at a grand ceremony held at the Brigade Parade Grounds here in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers, chief ministers of NDA-ruled states and senior BJP leaders
Kolkata: Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in by West Bengal Governor R.N. Ravi as the Chief Minister of the state’s first BJP government at a grand ceremony at the historic Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, several Union ministers and Chief Ministers of NDA-ruled states attended the event.
After Adhikari, five BJP MLA-designates — Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Nishit Pramanik, Ashok Kirtania and Khudiram Tudu — were sworn in by the Governor as Cabinet ministers. Ghosh comes from an RSS background, Paul represents the women’s segment, and Pramanik, a former Union minister, belongs to the Rajbanshi community of north Bengal.
Kirtania represents the Matua community, comprising Hindu migrants, while Tudu represents the tribal community. Other Cabinet members, likely to include Swapan Dasgupta, Roopa Ganguly, Dipanjan Chakraborty, Arjun Singh and Shankar Ghosh, are expected to be sworn in by the Governor at Lok Bhavan on May 11. Portfolio allocations are also expected to be announced then.
A pro-tem Speaker will be appointed in the Assembly on May 12. Tapas Roy, who won from Manicktala in north Kolkata as a BJP candidate, is seen as a front-runner for the Speaker’s post. The oath-taking of all 293 newly elected MLAs will take place over the next two days.
The Trinamul Congress, which has emerged as the main Opposition party with 80 seats, is set to get the Leader of the Opposition’s post. The party has appointed Sovandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of the Opposition, Asima Patra and Nayna Bandopadhyay as deputy leaders of the opposition, and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim as its chief whip.
After the swearing-in ceremony, Adhikari visited Jorasanko Thakurbari in central Kolkata and paid tribute to Rabindranath Tagore on the occasion of Pochishe Boishakh, the Bengali icon’s birth anniversary according to the Bengali calendar. He also appeared to take a veiled swipe at his predecessor, who was once his party chief.
“I will not make any controversial comments. I am the Chief Minister for all. Let good sense prevail upon those who are still criticising. Bengal’s culture and education have been destroyed. Let us rebuild Bengal. A huge responsibility lies ahead. This is not the time for political debate or blame game. Whoever wants to do it may do so. We will move ahead,” Adhikari told the media.
The new Chief Minister later held a meeting with Chief Secretary Dushyant Nariala, home secretary Sanghamitra Ghosh and Director General of Police Siddh Nath Gupta at the PWD Guest House on Red Road to discuss his government’s immediate tasks. Since renovation work at Writers’ Building, the proposed Cabinet office, is yet to be completed, it was decided that Adhikari and other ministers would function temporarily from the state Assembly.
In the evening, Adhikari appointed retired IAS officer Subrata Gupta as his adviser. Gupta had served as the Election Commission’s special observer to supervise the special intensive revision of the voters’ list and the Assembly polls in the state. Santanu Bala, a 2017-batch IAS officer, was appointed as his personal secretary.
Meanwhile, 16 West Bengal Civil Service officers who had served as secretaries at different levels in the Chief Minister’s Office during the Trinamul Congress rule were shifted to the personnel and administrative reforms department.
Adhikari later visited Kalighat Temple and other Hindu religious places in Bhowanipore.
