The political map of West Bengal was painted with saffron brush strokes on Saturday as Suvendu Adhikari took oath as the first BJP Chief Minister of the eastern state since Independence, pledging the dawn of “Sonar Bangla” (golden Bengal).Adhikari (55), draped in saffron, was administered the oath of office by Governor RN Ravi in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and all chief ministers of the BJP and NDA-ruled 22 states and UTs.Bengal BJP lawmakers Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, Ashok Kirtania, Kshudiram Tudu and Nisith Pramanik also took the oath as the BJP formalised a six-member ministry, with plans to expand the Cabinet on Monday when portfolios are allocated.The six-member ministry reflects a balance of regions and communities, the representation going to a Brahmin, OBC, tribal, Matua and Rajbanshi. At the historic Brigade Parade Grounds that have seen the politics of Bengal turn from Left to TMC to BJP, Modi’s warm embrace of Adhikari, the man of the moment, captured the magnificence of the occasion for the party.The BJP on May 4 scripted history by winning an over two-thirds majority in the state and dislodging the formidable TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, who today called for all anti BJP forces to unite against the BJP.On the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, Mamata invited the Left, ultra Left, student unions and NGOs to come together against “enemy number one BJP”. That said, she subtly changed her X profile to call herself “Chief Minister of West Bengal (15th, 16th and 17th Vidhan Sabha)” instead of “Honourable CM of West Bengal”, a description she carried until last night. This change signalled the rise of the BJP in Bengal, a state that had all along hesitated to accept the right wing.But today, in the backdrop of fluttering saffron flags, Adhikari took oath amid chants of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai” even as PM Modi knelt down on the floor in a gesture of complete reverence to the voters. “I bow to the ‘jana shakti’ (people’s power) of Bengal,” Modi said, posting his images on social media as he thanked Bengalis for the massive mandate—207 seats in the 294-member House as the TMC fell from 215 seats in 2021 to 80.Among the very first appointments in Bengal after Adhikari took oath was that of retired IAS officer Subrata Gupta as adviser to the CM. Gupta, an officer of the 1990 batch, was recently engaged by the Election Commission as the special roll observer for the SIR exercise in the state.The BJP government also appointed IAS officer Shantanu Bala as CM’s private secretary. Bala, a 2017-batch officer, was Additional District Magistrate, South 24 Parganas. Both officers took immediate charge with the CM reviewing law and order as also welfare schemes.