West Bengal News Highlights: Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay appointed Leader of Opposition in Assembly

West Bengal LIVE Updates: Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay appointed Leader of Opposition in Assembly and Asima Patra and Nayna Bandyopadhyay have been appointed Deputy Leaders of Opposition.

Chief Whip is Firhad Hakim.

West Bengal LIVE Updates: West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari to chair a meeting with police officers at Nabanna Sabhagarh, on Monday, May 11.

West Bengal LIVE Updates: Speaking with reporters after taking oath as chief minister, Suvendu Adhikari said that he will work to restore the “lost” glory of West Bengal.

Demanding “some time,” Suvendu Adhikari said, “We have definite plans to develop places associated with many luminaries who are part of Bengal's heritage and pride.”

"We need to bring back the lost glory of Bengal, which hit rock bottom under the TMC government. From culture to law and order, particularly women's safety and economic decline, Bengal lost its preeminence over the last 15 years. We have to set the record straight and bring the state back on the path of glory," he added.

West Bengal LIVE Updates: As many as 65 per cent of newly elected legislators in the West Bengal Assembly have declared criminal cases against themselves, marking a sharp rise from the previous election, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The report, which analysed affidavits of all 292 winning candidates in the 2026 Assembly polls, found that 190 MLAs (65%) have declared criminal cases, up from 142 (49%) in 2021. Of these, 170 legislators (58%) face serious criminal charges, compared to 113 (39%) in the previous Assembly.

West Bengal LIVE Updates: Election Commission's special observer Subrata Gupta has been appointed West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari's advisor.

West Bengal LIVE Updates: Calling upon all parties to put up a joint force against the BJP, Mamata Banerjee said, “I call upon all opposition parties, including the Leftists and the ultra-Left, to come together to form a joint platform against the BJP.”

“It is not the time to think the enemy's enemy is my friend, our first enemy is the BJP,” she said.

West Bengal LIVE Updates: TMC chief and former Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has urged all opposition parties in West Bengal to unite and form a “joint platform” to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party, which came to power in the state following the recently concluded Assembly elections.

Suvendu Adhikari CM Oath Ceremony: Daitapati Bhabani Das Maharaj, the Chief Servitor of Jagannath Temple in Puri said, "We said the same thing then, and we say it again: if you go against the scriptures and play games with religion, the result will be the same, the result we've all seen... BJP has one aim: to protect religion and work for the welfare of the people... How will you (Mamata Banerjee) become the chief when you get irritated by the name of Lord Ram?... You will be destroyed..."

Suvendu Adhikari CM Oath Ceremony: Ahead of Suvendu Adhikari's oath-taking ceremony, PM Narendra Modi bowed on the stage to greet the public gathered to witness the event.

Suvendu Adhikari CM Oath Ceremony: BJP leader Kalyan Chaubey said, “After the sacrifice of 321 BJP workers, the misrule of Mamata Banerjee has been removed.”

“A BJP government has been formed in West Bengal due to the hard work of workers under the leadership of PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah.”

Agnimitra Paul, who took oath on 9 May with senior BJP leaders Dilip Ghosh, Ashok Kirtania, Kshudiram Tudu and Nisith Pramanik, is the lone female figure in BJP's first-ever Bengal cabinet. A well-known figure in Kolkata’s fashion circuit, she designed outfits for several top Bollywood celebrities including Sridevi and Hema Malini. Focussed on Bengal’s traditional crafts, she brought Kantha embroidery to the limelight. She entered politics in 2019 with a focus on women’s empowerment and grassroots mobilisation.

With the BJP's resounding victory in West Bengal, ending the 15-year rule of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government, the party has secured the chief minister's post for the first time in nine states since Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014.

The journey began with Haryana and Maharashtra in 2014, followed by Assam (2016), Arunachal Pradesh (2016), Manipur (2017), Tripura (2018), Odisha (2024), Bihar (2026), and now West Bengal.

Who are the richest MLA's in Bengal?

BJP MLA Dilip Saha from Nabagram (SC) in Murshidabad is richest MLA in Bengal, with total assets worth ₹43.03 crore, including movable assets of ₹16.58 crore and immovable assets of ₹26.45 crore.

AITC MLA Ahmed Javed Khan from Kasba in South 24 Parganas ranked second with assets worth ₹39.53 crore. His movable assets stood at ₹15 crore, while immovable assets were valued at ₹24.53 crore.

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said the BJP's "spectacular" victory in West Bengal shows that the party's ideology has now gained recognition among people there, and the power change brought by them will pave the way for development of the eastern state.

The Minister of Road Transport and Highways was talking to PTI Videos here before heading to Kolkata to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Suvendu Adhikari as West Bengal Chief Minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday touched the feet of 98-year-old BJP veteran Makhanlal Sarkar and sought his blessings at the swearing-in ceremony of the party's first government in West Bengal.

Sarkar was arrested in Kashmir in 1952 while accompanying Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee during the movement to hoist the Indian tricolour there, the BJP said.

Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday took oath as the first BJP chief minister of West Bengal, marking a watershed moment that redrew the state's political landscape after decades of resistance to saffron politics.

Governor RN Ravi administered the oath of office and secrecy to Adhikari at a grand ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers, chief ministers of NDA-ruled states and senior BJP leaders.

Soon after Adhikari's swearing-in, senior BJP leader and party's former state unit chief Dilip Ghosh took oath as a minister in the new cabinet.

Suvendu Adhikari's father Sisir Kumar Adhikari said, “We fought the battle of Nandigram, and that struggle was led by Suvendu. Again and again, attempts were made to push him back through various strategies, but today even ordinary people have achieved victory. This is not just about Nandigram, today, the culture and spirit of Kolkata and all of West Bengal have received recognition," PTI reported.

Mamata Banerjee's nephew and TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee in a post on Saturday on X said, “Democratic institutions that are meant to function impartially appeared compromised, raising serious concerns about the fairness, credibility and transparency of the electoral process in West Bengal.”

Seeking access to CCTV footage from counting centres, he raised calls for reviving democracy, “Keeping the democratic traditions of this great nation above everything else, my colleagues and I in the Trinamool Congress will continue to stand firmly with the people of West Bengal and with every Trinamool worker who fought tooth and nail against what we believe was a compromised electoral machinery.”

Agnimitra Paul, who took oath on 9 May with senior BJP leaders Dilip Ghosh, Ashok Kirtania, Kshudiram Tudu and Nisith Pramanik, is the lone female figure in BJP's first-ever Bengal cabinet. A well-known figure in Kolkata’s fashion circuit, she designed outfits for several top Bollywood celebrities including Sridevi and Hema Malini. Focussed on Bengal’s traditional crafts, she brought Kantha embroidery to the limelight. She entered politics in 2019 with a focus on women’s empowerment and grassroots mobilisation.