The BJP’s giant-slayer Suvendu Adhikari is likely to be the next chief minister of West Bengal, sources have indicated, succeeding Mamata Banerjee who was earlier his mentor in politics.
A meeting of the BJP’s Legislative Party in West Bengal Assembly will be held in Kolkata on Friday (May 8) to discuss the formation of the government after the party swept the recent state elections.
At this meeting, sources said, Adhikari will be elected the leader of the BJP’s Legislative Party. BJP state chief Samik Bhattacharya will propose Adhikari’s name; Home Minister Amit Shah will announce his name as the leader of the legislative party, they added.
Adhikari had been the BJP’s strongest candidate this election, having defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram, the centrepoint of an agitation that helped her gain power.
He emerged as the party’s indisputable hero after repeating the feat this election, taking away Banerjee’s Bhabanipur stronghold by a much bigger margin.