Amid the raging political controversy in West Bengal with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refusing to step down even as the Assembly term ends today, the BJP is preparing to form the next government. While expected frontrunners such as Suvendu Adhikari, Samik Bhattacharya, and Dilip Ghosh remain in the spotlight, the buzz has also grown around two other names—Agnimitra Paul and Roopa Ganguly—in the past 24 hours.
State BJP vice-president Agnimitra Paul won the Asansol Dakshin seat by more than 40,000 votes, defeating TMC’s Tapas Banerjee. Some state leaders are now calling her as a top choice for chief minister if the BJP wants to counter Mamata Banerjee with a woman leader. It is in this context that the name of Roopa Ganguly—who won from Sonarpur Dakshin, defeating Trinamool Congress candidate Arundhati Maitra by over 35,000 votes—is also doing the rounds.
What is further giving strength to this argument is the fact that Rekha Gupta, the Chief Minister of Delhi, is the party’s only woman chief minister, despite the BJP being in power in around 21 states, covering around 72% of India’s population.
The BJP’s victory in West Bengal marked the end of the All India Trinamool Congress’s 15-year rule. The scale of the win was underscored by Mamata Banerjee’s defeat in Bhabanipur to Suvendu Adhikari, positioning him as a leading contender for the chief minister’s post.
“While Suvendu Adhikari remains a top contender, Agnimitra Paul can emerge as a counter as a woman face. And like in Delhi, where Parvesh Verma, who defeated Kejriwal, is the Deputy CM, the same formula can be applied in Bengal, with two or more deputy CMs,” a BJP leader said.
After defeating Mamata Banerjee, the BJP may seek to project a strong woman leader to maintain appeal among female voters, who recorded a high turnout in the 2026 polls. Besides, it may also have a point to prove after the fall of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill—aimed at enabling delimitation based on the 2011 Census and fast-tracking the Women’s Reservation Bill.
Meanwhile, analysts also point to the party’s recent trend of selecting relatively fresh or lesser-known faces for top roles.
Agnimitra Paul’s profile fits this “modern leadership” mould, and her decisive victory in Asansol Dakshin strengthens her position. Her name being discussed alongside leaders like Samik Bhattacharya and Dilip Ghosh is significant. So far the BJP, which has a track record of springing up surprises in states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha, only indicated that the swearing-in ceremony could be held on May 9 — the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.
Party leaders say the official announcement on the CM will be after Home Minister Amit Shah—the party’s central observer for the election of its legislative party leader in West Bengal—holds the official meeting of the newly elected legislators in Kolkata.