New Delhi, 9 May: Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari is set to take oath on Saturday as the first BJP Chief Minister of West Bengal, even as political uncertainty deepened in Tamil Nadu over government formation amid allegations of horse-trading, forged support letters and missing MLAs.
Adhikari’s swearing-in ceremony will be held at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata and is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, Union ministers and chief ministers of NDA-ruled states.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday officially announced Suvendu Adhikari as the next Chief Minister of West Bengal following a meeting with newly elected BJP legislators after the Assembly election results were declared on May 4.
According to Shah, the process of selecting the BJP legislature party leader was completed after eight proposals were received, all carrying only Adhikari’s name.
“The process of selecting the leader of the party’s legislative party in the state assembly has been completed. A total of eight proposals were received. In all the proposals, there was just one name. Enough time was given for any proposal for a second name. But no second name was proposed. So, I proposed the name of Suvendu Adhikari as the next Chief Minister of West Bengal,” Shah said during the meeting.
Adhikari won from both the Nandigram Assembly constituency in East Midnapore district and Bhabanipur constituency in South Kolkata in the recently concluded elections.
At Bhabanipur, he defeated former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by a margin of more than 15,000 votes.
He had earlier earned the “giant-killer” tag after defeating Banerjee in Nandigram during the 2021 Assembly elections. With his latest victory, he is set to lead the BJP’s first government in West Bengal since Independence.
While Bengal prepares for a political transition, Tamil Nadu remains gripped by uncertainty over who will form the next government as the term of the present government ends on May 10.
Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar has reportedly made it clear that no party will be invited to form the government unless it can prove the support of at least 118 MLAs in the 234-member Assembly.
Actor-politician C. Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which emerged as the single-largest party in the April 23 Assembly elections with 108 seats, has been trying to gather outside support to cross the majority mark.
The DMK-led alliance won 73 seats, while the AIADMK-led alliance secured 53 seats.
TVK held discussions with Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Communist Party of India and CPI(M) in an attempt to gather support.
Congress extended support through its five MLAs, taking TVK’s tally to 113, while CPI and CPI(M), with two MLAs each, later announced unconditional outside support, pushing the number to 117.
However, Vijay may have to resign from one of the two constituencies he won, which could once again reduce the party’s effective strength below the required majority mark.
Although support from VCK is expected, uncertainty continues over the final numbers required to form the government.
The political crisis intensified late Friday night when AMMK General Secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran met Governor Arlekar at Raj Bhavan and alleged large-scale horse-trading by TVK leaders.
The controversy centred around AMMK-backed MLA S. Kamaraj, who was reportedly shown as supporting TVK.
Dhinakaran alleged that forged support letters were sent to the Governor through WhatsApp and claimed that Kamaraj had gone “missing”.
Soon after, Kamaraj appeared before the media along with Dhinakaran outside Raj Bhavan and denied officially supporting TVK. He also alleged misuse of his signature.
Dhinakaran later filed a police complaint seeking action against those allegedly involved in the forgery.
TVK, however, rejected the allegations and released a video which it claimed showed Kamaraj voluntarily signing a support letter in favour of the party.
The party accused Dhinakaran of spreading misinformation to prevent the formation of a Vijay-led government.
With less than 48 hours left before the current government’s term expires, political negotiations continue in Chennai amid mounting uncertainty over Tamil Nadu’s next government.
Political observers believe that if the deadlock continues and allegations surrounding support letters and horse-trading intensify further, the Governor could submit a report to the Centre citing an extraordinary constitutional situation, potentially paving the way for President’s Rule in the state.
