According to a government notification, senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh was assigned the Panchayat and Rural Development Department along with Animal Resource Development and Agricultural Marketing, placing him in charge of sectors critical to the state’s rural economy and grassroots governance.
Also read: Suvendu Adhikari sworn in as Bengal’s first BJP chief minister
Agnimitra Paul was given the Women and Child Development and Social Welfare department as well as Municipal Affairs, giving her oversight of two key urban and welfare-focused portfolios.
Ashok Kirtania was allocated the Food and Supplies and Co-operation departments, while Kshudiram Tudu was entrusted with Tribal Development, Backward Classes Welfare and Minority Affairs and Madrasha Education.
Nisith Pramanik was assigned the North Bengal Development Department along with Youth Services and Sports, giving him charge of a strategically significant regional development ministry in addition to sports and youth affairs.
“The rest of the departments will be looked after by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari,” the notification said.
A senior BJP leader said the portfolio allocation reflected the party’s effort to combine experienced organisational figures with leaders representing different regions and social groups as the new government begins its term.
Grand swearing-in at Brigade Parade Ground
Governor RN Ravi administered the oath of office and secrecy to Adhikari and the five ministers at a ceremony at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground on Saturday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and chief ministers of several NDA-ruled states.
After the ceremony, Modi said May 9, 2026, would be remembered as “a day of profound significance” marking “a new chapter of hope, dignity and good governance” in West Bengal.
Also read: ET Graphics | Suvendu Adhikari: From Nandigram face to West Bengal CM
Adhikari, who took oath wearing a saffron kurta and dhoti on Rabindranath Tagore’s birth anniversary, later visited Jorasanko Thakur Bari, the ancestral home of Rabindranath Tagore, as well as the Kalighat Kali Temple and the residence of Syama Prasad Mookerjee.
Once a close aide of former chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the face of the anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram, Adhikari emerged as the BJP’s principal challenger in Bengal politics after defeating Banerjee in Nandigram in 2021. In the latest election, he unseated her from Bhabanipur, cementing his position as the BJP’s choice to lead its first government in the state.
