Bengal’s Political Earthquake: How Suvendu Adhikari Pulled Off a Stunning Power Shift

For nearly two decades, Suvendu Adhikari was considered one of the pillars of All India Trinamool Congress — a mass leader who helped expand.

The party deep into rural West Bengal and was widely seen as one of Mamata Banerjee’s most trusted lieutenants. On Saturday, the same leader completed one of the sharpest political turnarounds in Bengal’s recent history by taking oath as chief minister after guiding the Bharatiya Janata Party to a sweeping victory that ended the TMC’s 15-year rule.

The BJP won 206 of Bengal’s 294 Assembly seats in the 2026 elections, reducing the TMC to just 80. But beyond the scale of the mandate, the most symbolic moment came in Bhabanipur, where Adhikari defeated Mamata Banerjee by more than 15,000 votes in a constituency long regarded as her political fortress.

It was the second straight Assembly election in which Adhikari personally defeated Banerjee. In 2021, he had narrowly beaten her in Nandigram despite the BJP failing to form the government. Five years later, he repeated the feat — this time while also delivering the BJP its first government in Bengal.

A Political Rise Rooted In East Midnapore

Adhikari belongs to the influential Adhikari family of Kanthi in Purba Medinipur district, a family that has wielded political influence in the region for decades. His father, Sisir Adhikari, was a senior Congress leader and later served as a Union minister under former prime minister Manmohan Singh. His brothers, Dibyendu Adhikari and Soumendu Adhikari, are also active in politics.

Adhikari began his political career in student politics during the Left Front era before joining the Congress in the 1990s. Soon after Mamata Banerjee floated the TMC in 1998, the Adhikari family shifted to the new party and became instrumental in strengthening its organisation across Purba Medinipur.

At a time when the TMC was struggling to challenge the entrenched CPI(M)-led Left Front machinery, Adhikari emerged as one of the party’s most effective district-level organisers.

Nandigram Changed Everything

Adhikari’s political stature rose dramatically during the 2007 anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram.

As protests intensified against the Left Front government’s proposed land acquisition project, Adhikari emerged as one of the principal faces of the agitation on the ground. The movement eventually became one of the defining turning points in Bengal politics and is widely credited with weakening the Left Front’s long hold on power.

For the TMC, Nandigram transformed Adhikari from a regional organiser into a statewide political force.

He steadily expanded his influence into regions such as Jangalmahal — including Bankura, Purulia and Paschim Medinipur — and parts of Malda and Murshidabad, becoming one of the party’s most important electoral managers.

In 2009, Adhikari defeated veteran CPI(M) leader Lakshman Seth from the Tamluk Lok Sabha seat and retained it again in 2014. When the TMC returned to power in 2016, Mamata Banerjee inducted him into the state Cabinet and entrusted him with key portfolios, including transport and irrigation.

By then, Adhikari was widely viewed as one of the TMC’s strongest mass leaders after Mamata Banerjee herself.

The Break With TMC

The equation between Adhikari and the TMC leadership began deteriorating after the rise of Abhishek Banerjee within the party organisation.

For years, many within Bengal politics saw Adhikari as Mamata Banerjee’s unofficial second-in-command. But as Abhishek Banerjee’s influence expanded, tensions within the party reportedly intensified.

In December 2020, Adhikari resigned from the state Cabinet and quit the TMC in one of the biggest defections in Bengal politics. Days later, he joined the BJP in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The split triggered a bitter political battle. Adhikari attacked the TMC leadership with slogans targeting Abhishek Banerjee, while Mamata Banerjee accused the Adhikari family of betrayal and branded them “Mir Jafars”.

From Nandigram To Bhabanipur

The rivalry culminated in the 2021 Assembly election, when Mamata Banerjee chose to contest directly against Adhikari in Nandigram.

Adhikari defeated her by 1,956 votes, handing Banerjee one of the most significant electoral setbacks of her career. Yet despite the symbolic victory, the BJP could win only 77 seats and failed to take power in the state.

The period that followed proved crucial for Adhikari’s political rise within the BJP.

As the party attempted to rebuild its Bengal organisation after 2021, Adhikari emerged as its most visible leader on the ground, travelling extensively across districts and consolidating cadre networks.

BJP leaders later credited him with helping stabilise the party’s structure in Bengal during a difficult phase and preparing the groundwork for the 2026 breakthrough.

This time, Adhikari not only defeated Mamata Banerjee again — now from Bhabanipur — but also led the BJP to its first-ever government in Bengal.

Bengal’s New Power Centre

After the BJP’s defeat in 2021, Adhikari was appointed Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, cementing his position as the party’s principal face in the state. Over the next five years, he became central to the BJP’s Bengal strategy as the party sought to expand beyond its traditional urban and border-region support bases.

Inside the BJP, several leaders began drawing comparisons between Adhikari’s organisational role in Bengal and the influence of Himanta Biswa Sarma in Assam. By the time campaigning entered its final stages in 2026, Adhikari had become the BJP’s undisputed Bengal strongman.

Now, with the BJP ending the TMC’s 15-year rule and forming its first government in Bengal, Adhikari’s political journey — from Congress worker to TMC strategist to the BJP’s most powerful Bengal face — has culminated in the state’s highest office.