New Delhi: Suvendu Adhikari has been elected as the BJP’s West Bengal chief minister after years of positioning himself as the most powerful anti-Mamata Banerjee face of the BJP in the state. From defeating the Trinamool Congress supremo in his own den to leading the BJP’s aggressive Hindutva-driven campaign, Adhikari has steadily emerged as the saffron party’s most powerful leader in Bengal. The BJP scored a landslide victory in the state, winning 207 seats in the 294-member assembly, ending the TMC’s 15-year rule and further cementing Adhikari’s position in the party. His electoral success, grassroots influence, inside knowledge of the TMC and ability to consolidate anti-Trinamool votes ultimately made him the natural choice of the BJP leadership to lead the first government in West Bengal.
Giant Killer: The man who defeated Mamata twice in her own fortress
One of the biggest reasons why the BJP chose Suvendu Adhikari as its representative in the first government in West Bengal was his stunning victory in the elections Mamata Banerjee Babanipur constituency has long been considered a political bastion for the Trinamool Congress supremo. Defeating the sitting chief minister on his own turf gave Adhikari unparalleled political clout within the BJP and instantly elevated him to the party’s most powerful leader.Once a close aide of Mamata Banerjee before switching to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Adhikari emerged as the saffron party’s most aggressive anti-TMC face in Bengal. He polled 73,917 votes to Mamata Banerjee’s 58,812 votes, defeating her by a margin of 15,105 votes in the high-stakes race from Babanipur, making it a closely watched electoral battle.The outcome holds huge symbolic significance as Babanipur has historically been closely associated with Mamata Banerjee’s political identity. The constituency, located in Kolkata district and part of Kolkata’s Dakshin parliamentary constituency, has long been considered one of the Trinamool Congress party’s safest strongholds. After losing to Adhikari’s Nandigram in the 2021 Assembly elections, Mamata returned to the Assembly later that year by easily winning the Bhabanipur bypoll by over 65,000 votes.For the BJP leadership, Adhikari’s victory proved his ability to directly challenge Mamata Banerjee in areas where the opposition has historically struggled, not once but twice.
At least there is no other option for now
While there are a few aspirants for the top job, no one is as close as Adhikari, at least for now. While several BJP leaders have consolidated their positions in the elections, none can match Adhikari’s electoral impact. His victories in Nandigram and Babanipur made him the party’s most powerful anti-TMC representative and the leader most capable of directly challenging Mamata Banerjee.Agnimitra Paul retained the Asansol Dakshin parliamentary seat by defeating Trinamool Congress candidate Tapas Banerjee by over 40,000 votes, further cementing her status as one of the emerging leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bengal. Senior leader Dilip Ghosh also won the Kharagpur Sadar parliamentary constituency, reaffirming his position in the party organization.However, despite the presence of leaders like Paul and Ghosh, the BJP leadership found no one to match Adhikari in terms of grassroots influence, organizational control and political stature in Bengal. While there are several contenders for the top job, no one is as close as Adhikari — at least for now.
TMC Script Insider
The BJP also sees Suvendu Adhikari as a leader who knows the Trinamool Congress party from the inside, having stayed with the party for more than two decades before defecting in 2020.Adhikari started his political career with the Congress party and became Kanti municipal councilor in 1995 before joining the Trinamool Congress party in 1998. Over the years, he became one of the party’s most influential grassroots organizers and played a key role in the 2007 Nandigram land agitation against the Left Front government, a movement that ultimately helped Mamata Banerjee come to power in Bengal.He became a Lok Sabha MP from Tamluk in 2009 and retained the seat in 2014 before returning to state politics in 2016 as a Trinamool MLA from Nandigram and a cabinet minister in the Mamata Banerjee government. His long-term association with the TMC has given him an in-depth understanding of the party’s organizational structure, electoral strategy and voter network.After leaving the TMC and joining the BJP in December 2020, Adhikari quickly emerged as the saffron party’s sharpest weapon against Mamata Banerjee. His victory over her in Nandigram in the 2021 assembly elections further cemented his position and eventually made him the leader of the opposition in West Bengal.
Hindutva demands are consistent with the core politics of the BJP
Another major factor in Suvendu Adhikari’s rise as BJP chief minister has been his ability to consolidate the Hindu vote, a strategy closely linked to the BJP’s broader political identity and Bengal’s electoral approach.After winning both the Nandigram and Bhabanipur elections, Adhikari publicly attributed his victory to Hindu voters, especially in the Nandigram election where he defeated TMC candidate Pabitra Kar by 9,665 votes. “This time I won the election by nearly ten thousand votes. The Hindus of Nandigram made me win again. All the Muslim votes there went to the TMC. I will work for the Hindus of Nandigram,” ANI quoted Adhikari as saying a day after the results of the assembly elections were announced.For the BJP leadership, Adhikari’s success has bolstered the party’s belief that he can be a central figure in the consolidation of Hindutva in Bengal politics. His aggressive attacks on the TMC, coupled with a strong message around ideology and identity politics, resonated with the BJP’s core support base in the state.
Voice Radical Leader
Suvendu Adhikari was chosen as the BJP chief minister also because of his profile as the party’s most outspoken and aggressive opposition leader in West Bengal, a politician who was always directly at odds with Mamata Banerjee and the TMC, both politically and ideologically.Throughout the campaign, Adhikari positioned himself as the BJP’s strongest Hindu voice in the state. From leading Ram Navami rallies in Babanipur to calling for ‘Ram Rajya’ in Bengal to openly crediting his victory to Hindu voters, he is closely aligned with the core ideological message of the BJP. He has repeatedly attacked the TMC on infiltration, minority appeasement and law and order issues, positioning himself as the face of the aggressive anti-TMC movement.His combative style became even more pronounced after the election results came in. The BJP’s landslide victory in the 294-member assembly, winning 207 seats while the TMC was reduced to 80 seats after 15 years of ruling Bengal, further cemented Adhikari’s status as the party’s undisputed face in the state.
