India, May 10 -- As if to underline the cultural debt, PM Modi and CM-designate Adhikari paid tribute to Tagore on his birth anniversary before the ceremony began, a moment that threaded the day's politics through Bengal's most enduring pride.

History descended on Kolkata's Brigade Parade Ground on Saturday-not quietly, not gradually, but with the crash of dhol, the swirl of Chhau dancers, and a roar that swept across central Kolkata like a tsunami.

BJP legislature party leader Suvendu Adhikari took oath as the Chief Minister of West Bengal, heading the first BJP government in the state since Independence. Governor R.N. Ravi administered the oath of office and secrecy to Adhikari amid chants of "Jai Shri Ram", drumbeats, and a sea of fl...