Euphoria in Brigade Parade Ground; Suvendu Adhikari era begins in Bengal

KOLKATA: Suvendu Adhikari took oath as the Chief Minister of Bengal in the name of God in a historic event at Brigade Maidan in Kolkata. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah and NDA Chief Ministers participated in the euphoric event that was attended by thousands of supporters and well-wishers. Narendra Modi and Suvendu Adhikari reached the venue by holding a road show. The Prime Minister offered floral tributes to Tagore's portrait on the stage. 98-year-old BJP leader Makhanlal Sarkar was honoured on the stage.

A huge crowd gathered at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata to witness the oath-taking ceremony. The people who arrived at the ceremony were offered jhalmuri.

Suvendu Adhikari, a former TMC leader who switched sides to BJP in 2020, was one of the key figures who led the party to victory in Bengal. Suvendu became the Chief Minister after becoming the giant slayer, defeating former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee twice in the elections from Nandigram and Bhawanipur. Suvendu defeated Mamata Banerjee in her own constituency, Bhawanipur, by more than 15,000 votes.

Firebrand BJP leader Dilip Ghosh will be part of Adhikari’s cabinet. All BJP chief ministers across the nation and influential leaders were summoned to the event at the behest of the party leadership. Conquering Bengal was on BJP's list since 2014, and the need became paramount this year as a repeat of 2021 loss would have given irreparable damage to the party. With this, BJP has established their presence in all of the Hindi heartland states except Jharkhand. Now all eyes will be fixed on Uttar Pradesh as the state prepares to go to the polls early next year.