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Union Minister Amit Shah arrived in Kolkata on Friday to chair a key meeting of the BJP’s newly elected MLAs, where the party is expected to finalise its choice for the next Chief Minister of West Bengal. The oath-taking ceremony will be held on May 9.

The BJP legislature party meeting is expected to elect the leader of the House, a decision that will effectively determine the party’s chief ministerial candidate as it prepares to form its first government in the state.

Senior BJP central leadership figures are overseeing the process amid heightened political activity following the conclusion of the previous government’s tenure.

West Bengal Assembly Formally Dissolved

The political development comes a day after the formal tenure of the outgoing West Bengal government ended on Thursday.

The Governor issued an official notification dissolving the 17th West Bengal Legislative Assembly, bringing the Assembly’s term to a close with effect from May 7.

Despite the dissolution of the Assembly, outgoing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has continued to describe herself as the “Chief Minister of West Bengal” across her social media profiles on Facebook, Instagram and X.

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BJP's Major Electoral Breakthrough

The election outcome has drawn significant political attention due to major constituency-level shifts across the state.

According to the data cited, out of 95 BJP victories where deleted voter names exceeded the eventual winning margin, 80 were constituencies the party had not won previously.

The BJP retained all 77 seats it had secured in the 2021 Assembly elections and added 130 new seats overall, marking a major expansion in the state.

In Bhabanipur, the constituency represented by Mamata Banerjee in south Kolkata, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari defeated her by 15,105 votes, while voter roll deletions reportedly stood at 45,240.

In Tollygunge, minister Aroop Biswas lost by 6,013 votes, with 33,533 deletions recorded.

Similarly, Jadavpur, once considered a Left stronghold, saw a BJP victory margin of 27,716 votes alongside 45,892 deleted names.

In Indus, the BJP retained its seat by a margin of just 900 votes while 4,617 voter names were reportedly removed from the rolls.

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With the Legislative Assembly dissolved and the transition of power underway, political attention is now centred on the BJP legislature party meeting, which is expected to formally pave the way for the announcement of West Bengal’s new Chief Minister.

The meeting is being viewed as a decisive step in the party’s preparations to take charge in a state long dominated by the Trinamool Congress under Mamata Banerjee.