All eyes on BJP's Bengal CM pick now - Suvendu Adhikari, Samik Bhattacharya, Agnimitra Paul among frontrunners

The article notes that Muslim voters play a decisive role in at least 120 of Bengal’s 294 assembly seats. It recalls that BJP won 77 of these seats in 2021, fielded nine Muslim candidates, but none won in that subset.

The BJP signaled it may call a meeting of all newly-elected legislators in Kolkata in the next few days to elect a leader, with no clear date yet for the legislative party meeting to decide the chief minister.

BJP functionaries indicated that Samik Bhattacharya, a Rajya Sabha member and state unit chief, and Agnimitra Paul, a former Lok Sabha MP, are among frontrunners for Bengal chief minister. Paul could be a female CM candidate if the party backs such a choice; Bhattacharya is credited with leading the party to its first assembly poll win in Bengal.

Agnimitra Paul, the BJP vice-president, won from Asansol Dakshin, as reported on the day of the party's Bengal victory.

The BJP won the West Bengal assembly polls for the first time, securing 206 of the 293 seats counted, while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was leading in or won 81 seats as counting concluded.

At a rally in East Midnapore in January 2025, a BJP leader claimed that in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls the party secured about 38% of votes, described as Hindu votes, and suggested that further gains from Hindu votes could help defeat Mamata Banerjee.