KOLKATA, May 8 -- Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday declared Suvendu Adhikari as the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) legislature party in West Bengal at a meeting of the party's 207 MLAs in Kolkata, clearing the way for his elevation as chief minister of the state's first BJP government since Independence.

"A meeting of our West Bengal legislature party was held. The BJP national president nominated me and Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi, as central observers. An election has been concluded. We received nearly eight proposals and all of them suggested the same name. We also gave time for a second name but none came. So, I declare Suvendu Adhikari the head of the Bengal legislature party," Shah said.

Adhikari,...