The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had a historic day when Suvendu Adhikari took oath as the chief minister of Bengal. It is the first time ever that a BJP leader has become the West Bengal CM.
Adhikari, who was once a loyal aide to former CM and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee, had defected to the BJP before the 2021 assembly elections. He served as the leader of the opposition in the assembly for five years before ultimately ending his former boss’s 15-year rule.
Adhikari’s rise as Bengal’s chief minister did not just make headlines across India, but also across the Eastern border in Bangladesh.
Most of the newspapers in India’s eastern neighbour carried the news of Suvendu Adhikari’s elevation as Bengal CM on their front pages.
Here is what some of them said:
How the Bangladesh media covered Suvendu Adhikari becoming Bengal CM
The Dhaka Tribune carried the Suvendu Adhikari news on its front page with the headline “India’s BJP names chief minister in West Bengal after sweeping win”.
The article noted that the result in Bengal has put Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a stronger footing “while he battles a series of economic and foreign policy challenges”.
The Bangladesh Post also carried the news on its front page, although almost like a footer. Its headline said “BJP names Suvendu Adhikari as CM of West Bengal”. The article’s content was the same as that of the Dhaka Tribune, sourced from the AFP news agency.
The Daily Star ran with the headline “Suvendu named West Bengal CM”, saying Suvendu Adhikari, who joined the BJP in December 2020 after leaving the Trinamool Congress, where he had once been a close associate of Banerjee, emerged as the clear choice.
Even the Bangla-language papers prominently featured Suvendu Adhikari’s appointment as Bengal CM on their front pages.
Suvendu Adhikari takes oath
Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday took oath as the first BJP chief minister of West Bengal since Independence, formally ending the Trinamool Congress’s 15-year rule in the state at a high-security ceremony held at Brigade Parade Grounds in Kolkata.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and several senior BJP leaders attended the swearing-in ceremony, which drew thousands of BJP supporters from across Bengal and neighbouring states.
Supporters carrying BJP flags and raising slogans gathered at various points before proceeding towards the ceremony venue. “It is a historic day. We have come to witness West Bengal getting independence from the clutches of the TMC,” a supporter from Jharkhand said.
Adhikari’s elevation was formalised on Friday after Amit Shah announced him as the leader of the BJP legislature party at a meeting of the party’s 207 MLAs in Kolkata.
“A meeting of our West Bengal legislature party was held. The BJP national president nominated me and Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi as central observers. We received nearly eight proposals, and all of them suggested the same name,” Shah said.
The BJP scripted a historic victory in the two-phase assembly elections, winning 207 of the 294 seats, while the TMC was reduced to 80.
