the BJP government. there will be nationalists in the state, says CM Suvendu during first visit to North Bengal

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday (May 20, 2026) said the BJP government in West Bengal will be nationalist and will uphold Indian tradition and culture and work for system change in the state.

On his first visit to the region as Chief Minister, Mr. Adhikari expressed the BJP’s gratitude to the people of North Bengal for their continued support to the saffron party and said that the newly formed government would fulfill all the promises made in the party’s manifesto for the West Bengal Assembly polls within a specific time frame.

Also read | Suvendu Adhikari holds first ‘janata darbar’ after becoming CM

“It will be a government of the people, of nationalists and will uphold Indian tradition and culture,” Mr Adhikari said.

“We will have a government of dreams that will fulfill the desires of the people. We don’t just want a change in the color of the ruling party’s flag or the people at the helm, we want a change in the system,” the prime minister said.

Speaking at the BJP office in Siliguri, the largest city in North Bengal, Mr. Adhikari said the announcements made by the party in its “Sankalpa Patra” (poll statement) have already been delivered, asserting that there will be seamless coordination between the government and the party.

The new government has decided to introduce the Annapurna Yojana, doubling the monthly cash assistance to women from ₹1,500 under Mamata Banerjee’s previous dispensary’s Lakshmir Bhandar initiative to ₹3,000.

It also made traveling in government buses free for women and announced the introduction of Ayushman Bharat Yojana in the state.

He said that in the changed situation, there would be no “syndicates” or “cut money culture” or “mafia paradise” and there would be no kind of anti-national activities in West Bengal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have repeatedly said that a “syndicate paradise”, “cut money culture” and “mafia paradise” prevailed in West Bengal during the TMC rule and vowed to bring rule of law to the state.

Mr. Adhikari said the new BJP government would ensure the fulfillment of the dreams of Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Bharat Sevasram Sangha founder Swami Pranabananda. He claimed that his government would fulfill all the promises made in the BJP’s poll statement within a certain time frame.

“Some promises will be fulfilled within three months, some within six months and others within one year,” the chief minister said.

The CM said his government will work with people’s suggestions.

“We want to run a government involving the masses to fulfill the principle of ‘By the people, for the people’ enshrined in the foundations of the constitution. TMC has made it ‘For family, for family and family’ and ‘For party, for party, for party’,” Mr Adhikari said.

Acknowledging the contribution of BJP workers and supporters in establishing the party’s organization in North Bengal, he said, “You have suffered for slapping false cases and worked extremely hard to bring the party to this position.” He said BJP supporters suffered due to the partisanship of the previous administration and there were instances where people were prevented from practicing their religion freely.

“The previous government tried to create division among the people; 11 different slabs were made in the hills to divide the people there,” he said.

He alleged that the Rajbanshi society and the gods of Matua and other SC communities were insulted under the previous TMC dispensation.

Mr. Adhikari said he would work to fulfill the developmental aspirations of the people of North Bengal. The CM said he will visit the region every month along with other ministers of his cabinet. “The BJP government will work to extend its development contributions to North Bengal to erase the deprivation that the region was subjected to earlier,” he said.

The North Bengal Development Minister will hold an office in Siliguri one day a week, Mr. Adhikari said, with the minister in-charge of the department Nisith Pramanik.

North Bengal has been a BJP stronghold for several years and people in the region are hopeful that Mr Adhikari will make some new announcements for the region in his first visit after being sworn in as chief minister on May 9, a local party leader said as saffron.

Published – 20 May 2026 13:04 IST