Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday congratulated West Bengal Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari after his oath-taking ceremony.
On Saturday, Adhikari became the first BJP leader to become the chief minister of West Bengal. He was sworn-in five days after the BJP defeated the Trinamool Congress in the Assembly elections, ending the 15-year rule of the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
The Bangladesh Awami League shared a letter on social media congratulating Adhikari and BJP for forming the new government.
The Awami League has been banned in Bangladesh since the 2024 protests that led to Hasina’s ouster.
The former Bangladesh prime minister said in the letter that the “verdict of the people of West Bengal is a clear reflection of their deep trust and admiration for Suvendu Adhikari’s strong and people-oriented leadership”.
“As neighbours, we have always wished for the prosperity and peace of West Bengal,” Hasina said. “I hope that the longstanding tradition of mutual cooperation between us will become even stronger during [Adhikari’s] tenure, and that we will continue to work together for the shared development and welfare of the people of both Bengals.”
Ties between New Delhi and Dhaka had been strained after Hasina fled to India in August 2024 following weeks of widespread student-led protests against her Awami League government. She had been in power for 16 years.
Following Hasina’s ouster, Yunus, a Nobel laureate economist, headed Bangladesh’s interim government.
There has been a thaw in the bilateral relationship after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party came to power in the parliamentary elections held in February. Tarique Rahman, the chairperson of the party, became the prime minister.
Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman had visited Delhi on April 10, marking the first high-level bilateral engagement hosted by India since the Hasina government was ousted.
Edited by Tanya Shrivastava
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