In the recently concluded elections to five State Assemblies, it looks like there are going to be some new faces who will become the Chief Ministers of their respective States. Out of five, only two States will continue with their existing CMs, and those States are Assam and Paducherry. In Assam, Hemanta Biswa Sarma and in Paducherry, N Rangaswamy, are going to continue. In West Bengal Suvendhu Adhikari of the BJP has been sworn in as the CM of the State, and in Tamil Nadu, C Joseph Vijay has been sworn in as the CM of the State. In Kerala, where the Congress-led front has won the election, the name of the CM is still not finalised.
Let us know about new CMs:
SUVENDHU ADHIKARI
He is an Indian politician who belongs to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). He was born on 15th December 1970. He holds a Master of Arts Degree in Environmental Studies from Rabindra Bharati University.
He was first elected as a Councillor from Congress in Kanthi municipality in 1995. In 2006, he was to the West Bengal Assembly from Kanthi Dakshin constituency.
In 2007, he spearheaded the anti-land acquisition movement in the Mandigram along with Mamata Banerjee. After Adhikari’s success in Nandigram, Mamata made him party’s observer of the Paschim Madinapur, Purulla and Bankura districts. In 2009, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Tumluk constituency, defeating CPM by a margin of 173,000 votes. He left his Lok Sabha seat after he got elected as MLA from Nandigram constituency. He became part of Mamata Banerjee’s ministry in 2016 (WBengal).
In 2020, he had a fallout with Mamata Banerjee, and he resigned as Transport Minister, and also resigned from the membership of All India Trinamool Congress. In December 2020, he joined the BJP. He defeated Mamata Banerjee in the Nandigram Assembly seat in 2021.
In the 2026 State Assembly election, he simultaneously contested from Nandigram and Bhabanipur, the seat held by CM Mamata Banerjee and won both the seats by a spectacular margin.
On 8th May 2026, he was elected leader of the BJP Legislative Party in West Bengal and was sworn as CM on 9th May 2026.
In personal life, he has publicly stated that he chose to remain single to focus on his public life and political career.
C JOSEPH VIJAY
He was born on 22nd June 1975 in Madras (now Chennai). He is primarily an actor of South Indian Film Industry, who switched to politics two years back. He made his debut as a lead actor in 1992 and acted in many blockbuster Tamil films. From the 2010s onward, he started in a major commercial successes including Thuppakki (2012), Kaththi (2014), Mersal (2017), Sarkar (2018), Master (20210, Leo (2023), and The Greatest of All Time (20240.
In February 2024, Vijay announced his retirement from films and his entry into politics and founded Talilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). Vijay-led the TVK made his debut appearance in the 2026 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election. The party emerged as the single largest party in the assembly, making a significant change in Tamil Nadu’s political landscape, which had long been dominated by Dravidian parties. Vijay contested from two constituencies, Perambur and Trichy East and was elected from both. He later resigned from the Trich East seat, choosing to retain the Perambur constituency.
On 10th May 2026, Vijay was sworn in as CM of Tamil Nadu, putting an end to six decades of dominance of Dravidian parties in the State. The government is being formed as a coalition government with Congress as a partner, while the parties, including VCK, CPI, CPM, and IUML, are extending outside support to TVK.
In personal life, Vijay married Sankgeetha Sornalingram on 25th August 1999. They have two children, a son (Jason Sanjay) and a daughter(Dhivya Sasha). In 2025, Sangkgeetha filed for divorce. Presently, he is rumoured to be involved with actress Trisha Krishnan.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
11th May 2026