Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as chief minister of West Bengal on 9 May 2026 at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata, according to Wikipedia’s page on his ministry. The BJP’s victory ended the 15-year rule of the Trinamool Congress, and India TV’s live coverage of the counting on 4 May reported that the former chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, was defeated in Bhabanipur by Adhikari.
The size of the BJP’s majority is described differently by sources. The Wikipedia page on his ministry says the BJP won 208 of 294 seats, India TV’s live report gives 202 seats and describes it as more than a two-thirds majority, and a search summary says 206, with the Trinamool Congress reduced to 81. A page on the 2026 elections in West Bengal that was reviewed for this article is a preview and gives no results, so IndiaX24 cannot settle the number, and readers should check the Election Commission’s final results.
The council of ministers has 41 members, according to Wikipedia. It comprises 19 cabinet ministers including the chief minister, three ministers of state with independent charge and 19 ministers of state. The page lists some of the portfolios: Nisith Pramanik has North Bengal Development, Dilip Ghosh has Panchayats, Agnimitra Paul has Urban Development and Swapan Dasgupta has Finance. It does not name a deputy chief minister.
The opposition is led by the Trinamool Congress. The page says that Ritabrata Banerjee became the leader of the opposition. The sources reviewed do not describe the party’s strength in the house beyond the search summary figure of 81 seats, or the positions of the Congress and the Left.
Before the election, the BJP held 65 seats and the Trinamool Congress 225 seats in the 294-member assembly, according to the preview page, so the change in the balance is very large. A majority needs 148 seats, so on any of the three counts the BJP has far more than needed.
The sources reviewed do not describe policies of the new government. The Wikipedia page on the ministry says that no specific policies are documented in it, and the search for news of its policies in October 2026 gave only the formation of the government and its cabinet. A related IndiaX24 article reported that the new chief minister ordered municipal salaries to be paid before the Durga Puja and warned the health secretary about the RG Kar hospital issue.
West Bengal has also joined the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme under a memorandum with the National Health Authority signed on 8 June 2026, a month after the new government took office, which IndiaX24 covers in its health coverage. That shows how the change of government has changed the state’s relations with the Centre on at least one scheme.
The Rajya Sabha has also changed. The Trinamool Congress lost West Bengal seats to the BJP in the March round of Rajya Sabha elections, according to Wikipedia, and a by-election for one West Bengal seat is due on 16 October after a resignation. The assembly’s strength decides those results.
The change of government in West Bengal is the largest political shift of the 2026 round, and the first months of the new administration will show how its policies differ from those of the previous government.
Featured image: The Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata, the venue of the swearing-in (file photo, 2013). Photo by Biswarup Ganguly, licensed under CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.