Bharatiya Janata Party West Bengal President and a possible CM face, Samik Bhattacharya, on Tuesday announced that the oath-taking ceremony for the state will take place on the 9th of May, on the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. The Parliamentary Board of the BJP appointed Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah as the central observer for the election of the chief minister. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has been appointed as the co-observer.
Speaking to the ANI, he said, “The oath-taking ceremony of the new Chief Minister of West Bengal will take place on 9th May…” adding, ” Our goal wasn’t just to change a government or a Chief Minister; we want to change this political society, which is so socially oppressed. We have to bring back social pluralism… This is a double-engine government. Whatever we included in the manifesto, we discussed it among ourselves. Everyone from the centre to the state participated… The Prime Minister also looked at it, the Home Minister looked, and the Home Minister’s announcement announced the resolution letter. The commitment we made, it is guaranteed that it will happen…”
Speaking further, he said, “I salute all these migrant labourers. Despite so much hardship, they spent money from their own pockets to cast their votes… We got blessings from all over the world, from Toronto, from Dallas, from Silicon Valley, from Copenhagen, from Germany, from the UK, people came from all these places to cast their votes…”
“…At some places, people carried the BJP flag and engaged in vandalism. We condemn this. We want to make it clear that if anyone does such a thing, we will be compelled to expel them from the party… Celebrations were held across the country for West Bengal… Now we face very big challenges ahead. We are moving forward with those. We want to tell our workers to stay peaceful and not hurt anyone’s sentiments…” he concluded.
Earlier today, the outgoing Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, issued a statement outlining the government’s vision and roadmap under the BJP government for the overall development of the state.
In a statement shared on his social media platform X on Tuesday, he conveyed a nuanced message, even advocating for the constructive participation of the opposition in this developmental journey, where public service will be the central focus.
“The BJP’s commitment is to a developed, prosperous, and secure West Bengal. We are resolute in fulfilling our promises. By taking everyone along, we will build a healthy, beautiful, and advanced state. Serving the people of the state will be the primary goal of the new government,” Adhikari read.
In the statement, he has also thanked the people of West Bengal for allowing him to govern the state for the first time since independence by keeping faith with the pre-election development promises made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I extend my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to every one of you for extending overwhelming support to the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal and for reposing faith in the leadership of our esteemed Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji. This victory is the victory of every patriotic nationalist, the victory of every BJP worker,” his statement read.
He ended his statement thanking the Election Commission of India (ECI) for ensuring cent per cent violence-free polls with a clean voters’ list by weeding out the fake voters through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
“I convey special gratitude to the Election Commission, government employees, central forces, and members of the state and Kolkata police forces for conducting this democratic process of the assembly elections smoothly and successfully,” Adhikari said.
