From Mamata’s General to BJP’s Bengal Conqueror: Suvendu Adhikari Takes Oath as West Bengal’s First BJP Chief Minister

Kolkata: In one of the most dramatic turnarounds in contemporary Indian politics, Suvendu Adhikari once regarded as the trusted lieutenant of Mamata Banerjee and a key architect of the movement that brought her to power took oath as the first Bharatiya Janata Party Chief Minister of West Bengal.

The rise of Adhikari marks a defining shift in Bengal’s political history. A former close aide of Mamata Banerjee, Adhikari played a pivotal role in the 2007 Nandigram anti-land acquisition agitation that catapulted Banerjee into the seat of power and ended the 34-year-long Left Front rule in the state.

Nearly two decades later, the same man emerged as her fiercest political rival and eventually led the BJP to overthrow the Trinamool Congress government.

Adhikari’s political journey has been one of the most remarkable transformations in Bengal politics. Beginning his career with the Congress, he later joined the Trinamool Congress during its formative years and rapidly became one of the party’s strongest grassroots leaders. His influence spread across Purba Medinipur and the Jangalmahal region, where he built a formidable organisational network that significantly strengthened the TMC’s rural base.

His leadership during the Nandigram movement turned him into a mass leader and one of the most recognisable faces of Bengal politics. The agitation against the proposed Special Economic Zone not only altered the political discourse in the state but also laid the foundation for Mamata Banerjee’s historic victory in 2011.

As the Trinamool Congress rose to power, Adhikari became one of the most influential figures in the government and held several important portfolios, including transport and irrigation. Within the party, he was widely seen as the second-most powerful mass leader after Mamata Banerjee herself.

However, political equations within the TMC began to change with the rise of Abhishek Banerjee and the growing concentration of power within the party leadership.

Differences between Adhikari and the TMC leadership widened over strategy, organisational control and decision-making. In 2020, he resigned from the state cabinet and quit the Trinamool Congress, before joining the BJP in a move that dramatically altered Bengal’s political landscape.

Adhikari shot to national prominence in 2021 after defeating Mamata Banerjee in the high-voltag0e Nandigram Assembly contest, one of the most closely watched electoral battles in the country. Though the BJP failed to form the government that year, Adhikari emerged as the principal face of the opposition and became the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly.

Over the next five years, he spearheaded the BJP’s aggressive expansion across Bengal, consolidating the party’s support in rural belts and among sections disillusioned with the Trinamool Congress. His sharp attacks on the state government, coupled with strong organisational control, helped position him as the BJP’s undisputed leader in Bengal.

In the 2026 Assembly elections, Adhikari once again emerged as the BJP’s chief strategist and mass mobiliser, leading the party to a historic victory and ending years of Trinamool dominance in the state. Political observers say his elevation as Chief Minister reflects not only the BJP’s growing footprint in Bengal but also a larger realignment in the state’s political narrative.

Addressing supporters after taking oath, Adhikari said his government would prioritise development, transparent governance, industrial growth and restoring investor confidence in West Bengal.

The BJP’s victory and Adhikari’s ascent are being viewed as a watershed moment in Bengal politics — a stunning reversal in which the man who once helped Mamata Banerjee capture power ultimately became the leader who dethroned her.

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