On Saturday, Suvendu Adhikari assumed office as the Chief Minister of West Bengal, heading the state’s first Bharatiya Janata Party government since Independence.
Along with Adhikari, five other leaders were sworn in as members of the Council of Ministers. The Ministers include former BJP state president and former national vice-president Dilip Ghosh, BJP MLA and fashion designer-turned-politician Agnimitra Paul, former Union Minister of State for Home Nisith Pramanik, along with Ashok Kirtania and Khudiram Tudu.
Ghosh took the oath immediately after Adhikari, followed by Paul, Kirtania, Tudu, and Pramanik.
The portfolios of the newly inducted Ministers remained unannounced at the time of filing the report.
The composition of the Cabinet drew attention for representing several social and regional communities across the state.
Kirtania belongs to the Matua community, while Tudu represents the tribal population.
BJP performed strongly in Assembly constituencies dominated by Matua and tribal voters during the recently concluded elections.
Ghosh comes from an Other Backward Classes background, Paul belongs to the Kayastha community, and Pramanik represents the Rajbanshi community of north Bengal, a region where the BJP registered major electoral gains. Adhikari himself is a Brahmin.
Political observers believe the selection of Ministers from different caste and community backgrounds signals the BJP’s attempt to project inclusiveness and balanced representation in the new government.
Before the elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah repeatedly said the BJP would project a Bengali ‘son of the soil’ educated in the Bengali medium as its Chief Ministerial face in Bengal. Adhikari fits that criterion.
The Trinamool Congress is yet to announce its new Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, a post previously held by Adhikari between 2021 and 2026.
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