At the inauguration of Suvendu Adhikari as West Bengal's first BJP CM, PM Narendra Modi honoured 98-year-old veteran Makhanlal Sarkar (Makhan Lal Sarkar) by touching his feet. Sarkar, a former aide to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, is a foundational figure who helped build the party's North Bengal base and was famously imprisoned for his activism in the 1950s.