India, May 10 -- Suvendu Adhikari took oath as West Bengal chief minister at the iconic Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on Saturday, capping the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) march from the margins of the state's politics to its seat of power.

Clad in a saffron kurta, Adhikari was sworn in as the state's first BJP chief minister at a ceremony that doubled up as a show of the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) national strength.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, several other Union ministers and chief ministers from a number of NDA-ruled states attended the event, along with noted names from the Bengali entertainment industry.

"The political party based on the ideals of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee doesn't need...