This decision was made during a Kolkata meeting, where prominent BJP figures, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, chose Adhikari as the leader of the BJP legislative party.
Who is Suvendu Adhikari?
Born in 1970 in the Karkuli village of West Bengal, Adhikari is a senior leader in the BJP who previously held the position of Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly until the last government was dissolved. He earned his Master of Arts (MA) degree from Rabindra Bharati University in 2011.
He embarked on his political journey with Congress during the municipal elections in 1995. Subsequently, in 1998, he and his father, Sisir Adhikari, became part of Mamata Banerjee’s newly established party, Trinamool Congress (TMC). In 2006, he was elected as an MLA from the Kanthi Dakshin constituency.
Adhikari played a pivotal role in the Singur and Nandigram protests against land acquisition during 2006-07.
These movements galvanized public support for the TMC, leading to their success against the CPI(M) government in the 2011 elections.
On December 19, 2020, Adhikari departed from the TMC to join the BJP, a move attributed to escalating tensions with Abhishek Banerjee, Mamata Banerjee’s nephew. In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, he contested from the significant Nandigram seat, defeating Mamata Banerjee by 1,956 votes, after which she challenged the election results in the Calcutta High Court.
In the upcoming 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, Adhikari is set to contest from two prominent constituencies – Nandigram and Bhabanipur, winning both. Nandigram is his stronghold, while Bhabanipur was Mamata’s constituency and deemed one of the TMC’s safest seats. Recently, he indicated that he would relinquish one of the seats within 10 days.
The oath-taking ceremony for West Bengal’s inaugural BJP government is scheduled for tomorrow, May 9, at 10 am at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata.
Also Read: Suvendu Adhikari to become BJP’s first CM in West Bengal
