Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday touched the feet of 98-year-old BJP veteran Makhan Lal Sarkar and sought his blessings during the swearing-in ceremony of the new BJP government at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground. The emotional moment drew applause from party leaders and supporters present at the historic event.
The ceremony marked the oath-taking of Suvendu Adhikari as West Bengal’s first-ever BJP Chief Minister since Independence. Senior BJP leaders, chief ministers from several states, Union ministers, and hundreds of party workers attended the event.
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Makhan Lal Sarkar is regarded as one of the BJP’s earliest grassroots organisers in West Bengal. He has been associated with nationalist politics since the post-Independence period and played an active role in strengthening the party in north Bengal. In 1952, he was arrested in Kashmir while accompanying Syama Prasad Mukherjee during a movement to hoist the Indian tricolour there.
After the BJP was formed in 1980, Sarkar served as the organisational coordinator for West Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, and Darjeeling districts. Within a year, he reportedly helped enrol nearly 10,000 party members, significantly contributing to the BJP’s expansion in the region. He later served continuously for seven years as district president.
The BJP formed its first government in West Bengal after securing 207 seats in the 2026 Assembly elections, while the Trinamool Congress won 80 seats. Adhikari, who contested from Nandigram and Bhabanipur, defeated former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur by more than 15,000 votes.
Calling it the beginning of a “Sonar Bangla” era, Adhikari described the occasion as a historic moment for the state and the BJP.
