Kolkata, May 8: Suvendu Adhikari was officially announced on Friday as the first-ever chief minister of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a nationally accredited political outfit in India, emerging as a Double-Engine instrument regarding the all-round development of the welfare state, India.
Following the saffron partys' landslide victory in the recently concluded assembly elections in West Bengal ending the 15-year Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress’s governance, Adhikari proved himself more potential to shatter Mamata’s dream, beating her from her stronghold Bhabanipur Assembly Constituency & securing Nandigram, another fortress of Mamata-led Trinamool Congress(TMC).
Adhikari who was once a confidant of Mamata and also a TMC brigadier as well,left the party when he found himself cornered in every way by the party braces. The mental agony he faced during his encounters with the party office bearers and the inferiority complex he endured in the fields made him nearer to the national party BJP, to trial his fate there. Meanwhile, he came in contact with the BJP national leaderships and got their affiliations then with his able leadership quality and organisational aptitude.
Suvendu Adhikari who was born on 15 December 1970 in Karkuli near Contai in Purba Medinipur in West Bengal was brought up in a mediocre family. However, he is from a prominent political family belonging to the Mahishya community. He is the son of Sisir Kumar Adhikari, who was a former Union Minister and Member of Parliament.
Completing his primary education in the village Suvendu Adhikari held a Master's degree from the renowned Rabindra Bharati University.
Suvendu Adhikari’s political debut came to light when he joined the Indian National Congress in 1995 as a Municipal Councillor in Contai. He later joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC), inspired by his father in 1998.
Adhikari came to prominence in the association with the Mamata-founded Trinamool Congress (TMC). He played a major role in the 2006–07 Singur and Nandigram anti-land acquisition movements. These movements gained the TMC massive support against the then Left Front government and helped catapult it to coming into West Bengal power.
With his signature in the state politics, Suvendu Adhikari was elected a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Kanthi Dakshin in 2006.
Later, he was elevated to the national politics as he was sent as a TMC parliamentarian from Tamluk in 2009 and 2014. Later on, he became an MLA from Nandigram in 2016 under the TMC banner.However, he parted ways with the TMC and, in 2021, was elected MLA again from Nandigram on a BJP ticket.
Due to controversies, rivalries with Mamata Banarjee, and inner-party conflicts, Suvendu Adhikari resigned from the TMC in late 2020 and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with a commitment of restructuring BJP organisation in Bengal. Soon, he became the face of the BJP in West Bengal,for his organisational strategy in growing the party across the state.
Suvendu Adhikari defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Nandigram constituency in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.
This year, in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly election, he again defeated Mamata from the Bhawanipur constituency and also secured the Nandigram stronghold with sizeable mandates.
Meanwhile, Suvendu Adhikari served as Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 2021 to 2026, leading the BJP in the House. He has been the de facto leader of the West Bengal BJP unit to lead the party in the state holding the Chiefministership for the first time.
The 2026 Assembly elections marked a milestone for both Suvendu Adhikari and the BJP, which rose a great zero to 207 seats that’s 2-third majority for the first time in the West Bengal history and political landscape.
Adhikari, being a sincere player of the saffron party played a crucial role in the BJP's historic victory, which ended the TMC's 15-year rule that too eyed the 4th time victory.
May 9 will be a red-letter day for West Bengal and especially for Adhikari as he will officially take the oath as new CM of the new Bengal in presence of scores of state & national guests.
The swearing-in ceremony of the new BJP government will be held at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on the day where Adhikari will ensure a better governance to the people of West Bengal, with his historic debut.
