Will fulfil all promises made in BJP manifesto, says Bengal CM-elect Suvendu Adhikari

Declaring that an era of fear in West Bengal has ended, chief minister-designate Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said the first BJP government in the state would work on the principle of collective leadership, fulfil every promise made in the partys poll manifesto and function in close coordination with the Centre to realise the aspirations of the people.

Declaring that an ''era of fear'' in West Bengal has ended, chief minister-designate Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said the first BJP government in the state would work on the principle of collective leadership, fulfil every promise made in the party's poll manifesto and function in close coordination with the Centre to realise the aspirations of the people. Addressing BJP legislators and leaders shortly after being unanimously elected leader of the BJP legislature party in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Adhikari struck a conciliatory yet assertive tone as he outlined the priorities of the incoming government. ''Bhoi is out and, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has said, bharosa is in,'' Adhikari said amid loud cheers from party MLAs and supporters. Making it clear that the new dispensation would not revolve around individual authority, the 55-year-old BJP leader said, ''Not 'I', but 'we' -- the BJP government will function on the principle of collective leadership.'' ''The people of Bengal have given us a historic mandate. We will fulfil all the promises made in the BJP's poll manifesto in Bengal,'' he said. Adhikari also stressed the need for cooperation between the Centre and the incoming BJP government in the state. ''Let the Centre and the state work together to fulfil the aspirations of the people of Bengal,'' he said. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's poll guarantees, Adhikari asserted that every assurance given to the people would be implemented in a phased manner. He also announced probes into allegations of corruption and crimes against women during the previous Trinamool Congress regime. ''A commission headed by a retired judge will investigate all corruption cases. Commissions will also probe into incidents of atrocities against women and the guilty will be punished,'' he said. The BJP government, he added, would work towards rebuilding Bengal and aim to win the trust of ''over 60 per cent people'' in the next election through ''positive governance'' and implementation of the party's ''Sankalp Patra''. During his speech, Adhikari asked all BJP legislators to rise and applaud Prime Minister Modi for one minute in recognition of his leadership and role in the party's victory. Shah formally announced Adhikari's election after a meeting of the newly elected BJP MLAs and senior party leaders here. Describing the process as a unanimous endorsement by the legislators, the Union home minister said eight proposals were received for the post of legislature party leader, and all carried only Adhikari's name. ''Enough time was given for a second name, but no other proposal came. Therefore, I announce Suvendu Adhikari as the chief minister of West Bengal,'' Shah said. Adhikari is set to be sworn in as the ninth chief minister of West Bengal at a grand ceremony at Brigade Parade Ground here on Saturday morning in the presence of Prime Minister Modi, Shah and several senior BJP leaders. He will also become the first chief minister from a district in Bengal in more than five decades after Ajoy Mukherjee of Tamluk in Purba Medinipur, who held the office in 1970. Like Mukherjee, Adhikari too hails from Tamluk in the politically influential Purba Medinipur district. Once a trusted lieutenant of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, Adhikari switched to the BJP in December 2020 ahead of the 2021 assembly polls, dramatically altering Bengal's political landscape. In the 2021 elections, he defeated Banerjee in the high-profile Nandigram contest and emerged as the face of the BJP's aggressive opposition politics in the state as the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. Five years later, Adhikari dealt another symbolic blow to Banerjee by defeating her in Bhabanipur, considered the TMC chief's political stronghold, as the BJP stormed to power with 207 seats, ending the TMC's 15-year rule in Bengal. Over the past five years, Adhikari positioned himself as the principal challenger to the Banerjee government, leading protests inside and outside the Assembly and spearheading the BJP's campaign against the ruling dispensation on issues ranging from corruption to law and order. The son of former Union minister and three-time MP Sisir Adhikari, he began his political career in the Congress's student wing Chhatra Parishad during the peak of Left dominance in Bengal politics. He was first elected a councillor of Kanthi municipality in 1995 and later joined the TMC after Banerjee floated the party in 1998. His organisational skills helped the TMC consolidate its base in Purba Medinipur and challenge the CPI(M)'s entrenched political machinery. He was Banerjee's most trusted general during the Nandigram anti-land acquisition movement in 2007. Adhikari was later elected MP in 2009 and again in 2014. In the 2016 state assembly election, he was elected as MLA from Nandigram and became a minister in the TMC cabinet. He switched to the BJP in December 2020 ahead of the 2021 assembly polls. His elevation as chief minister marks the culmination of a political journey that has traversed the Congress, the TMC and finally the BJP -- a journey that has now placed him at the helm of Bengal's first saffron government.