From Mamata Banerjee’s aide to replacing her: Suvendu Adhikari’s rise to power

KOLKATA: Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday became the ninth Chief Minister of West Bengal, making history as the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader to hold the post since Independence.

Born on December 15, 1970, in Karkuli village of Purba Medinipur district, Adhikari comes from the politically influential Adhikari family of Kanthi (Contai). His father, Sisir Adhikari, served as a Union Minister and MP, while other family members were active in India's freedom movement.

Adhikari began his political career with the Indian National Congress in the 1990s and became a councillor in Kanthi Municipality in 1995. He later joined the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) after its formation in 1998 and quickly rose as a powerful grassroots leader in rural Bengal. He served as councillor, municipality chairman, MLA from Kanthi Dakshin, and twice as Lok Sabha MP from Tamluk.

His prominence increased significantly during the 2007 Nandigram anti-land acquisition movement against the Left Front government. As leader of the Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee, he played a central role in the agitation that weakened the Left Front's long rule and boosted the TMC's rise in Bengal politics.

In the Mamata Banerjee government, Adhikari handled important portfolios such as Transport and Irrigation and Waterways between 2016 and 2020. He also chaired the Haldia Development Authority, contributing to infrastructure and industrial growth in Haldia.

Relations with the TMC leadership deteriorated in 2020 amid differences with Abhishek Banerjee. Adhikari resigned from the party and joined the BJP in December 2020 in the presence of Amit Shah.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, he defeated Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram and became Leader of Opposition. In the 2026 Assembly polls, he won both Nandigram and Bhabanipur, defeating Mamata again. The BJP secured 207 seats in the 294-member Assembly, ending the TMC's 15-year rule and forming its first government in West Bengal.

Before the results, Adhikari's close aide Chandranath Rath was shot dead by unidentified attackers. On May 8, Amit Shah announced Adhikari as BJP Legislative Party leader, after which he met Governor RN Ravi to stake claim to form the government. (ANI)

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