Suvendu Adhikari
Chief Minister of West Bengal since 2026
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Suvendu Adhikari (Śubhēndu Adhikārī, Bengali pronunciation: [ʃubʱend̪u od̪ʱikaɾi]; born 15 December 1970) is an Indian politician who is serving as the 9th Chief Minister of West Bengal since 9 May 2026. He is the 1st Chief Minister of West Bengal under Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).[5][6]
Suvendu Adhikari | |
|---|---|
Adhikari in 2024 | |
| 9th Chief Minister of West Bengal | |
| Assumed office 9 May 2026 | |
| Governor | R. N. Ravi |
| Preceded by | Mamata Banerjee |
| Member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly | |
| Assumed office 20 May 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Phiroja Bibi |
| Constituency | Nandigram |
| Assumed office 4 May 2026 | |
| Preceded by | Mamata Banerjee |
| Constituency | Bhabanipur |
| In office 11 May 2006 – 16 May 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Sisir Adhikari |
| Succeeded by | Dibyendu Adhikari |
| Constituency | Contai South |
| Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 13 May 2021 – 9 May 2026 | |
| Governor | Jagdeep Dhankhar La. Ganesan (additional charge) C. V. Ananda Bose R. N. Ravi |
| Deputy | Mihir Goswami |
| Preceded by | Abdul Mannan |
| Succeeded by | Sovandeb Chattopadhyay |
| Chairman of the Jute Corporation of India | |
| In office 31 December 2020[1] – 2 March 2021[2] | |
| Union Textiles Minister | Smriti Irani |
| Preceded by | Ajay Kumar Jolly |
| Minister of Environment of West Bengal | |
| In office 2018–2020 | |
| Chief Minister | Mamata Banerjee |
| Preceded by | Sovan Chatterjee |
| Succeeded by | Mamata Banerjee[3] |
| Minister of Transport of West Bengal | |
| In office 27 May 2016 – 27 November 2020 | |
| Chief Minister | Mamata Banerjee |
| Preceded by | Aroop Biswas |
| Succeeded by | Firhad Hakim[3] |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 16 May 2009 – 20 May 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Lakshman Chandra Seth |
| Succeeded by | Dibyendu Adhikari |
| Constituency | Tamluk, West Bengal |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 December 1970 Karkuli, West Bengal, India |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party (since 2020) |
Other political affiliations |
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| Parents |
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| Relatives | Dibyendu Adhikari (brother) Soumendu Adhikari (brother) |
| Rabindra Bharati University.[4] (M.A) | |
| Occupation |
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He also served as Leader of the Opposition from 2021 to 2026. Adhikari previously worked in the state ministry for the West Bengal government from 2016 to 2020. He was elected Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Nandigram in 2016, 2021 and 2026, and simultaneously from Bhabanipur in 2026. Previously he was elected from Kanthi Dakshin in 2005, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamluk in 2009, and 2014.[7]
He previously served as the Minister of Transport from 2016 to 2020, Irrigation and Water resource from 2018 to 2020 in the Government of West Bengal. He was also a member of Lok Sabha from Tamluk from 2009 to 2016 and the chairperson of Jute Corporation of India from 2020 to 2021. He was a member of the Trinamool Congress from 1998 to 2020 and Indian National Congress from 1995 to 1998. He is the son of Sisir Adhikari, Member of Parliament and former Union Minister of State for Rural Development in the Manmohan Singh government.[8][9][10][11][12]
Early life and education
Adhikari was born on 15 December 1970[13] to Sisir Adhikari and Gayatri Adhikari at Karkuli in Purba Medinipur district in West Bengal. Sisir Adhikari is a politician, and former Minister of State in Second Manmohan Singh ministry and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kanthi constituency in 2019.[14][15] Adhikari is unmarried.[16]
Adhikari received a Master of Arts degree from Rabindra Bharati University in the year 2011.[17]
Political career
Early politics
Adhikari was first elected as a councillor from Indian National Congress in the Kanthi Municipality in 1995.[18] In 2006, Adhikari was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Kanthi Dakshin constituency. He also became the Chairman of Kanthi Municipality in the same year.[14]
Nandigram movement and rise within Trinamool Congress
In 2007, Adhikari spearheaded the anti-land-acquisition movement in the Nandigram. He led the Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee. The ruling Left Front government in West Bengal planned to acquire 10,000 acres of land in the village to set up a special economic zone.[19][20][21] This movement catapulted Mamata Banerjee to the centre-stage of Bengali politics.[21] The state CID alleged that Adhikari had supplied arms to the Maoists to wage an armed movement against the state government.[22][23]
After Adhikari's success in Nandigram, Banerjee made him the party's observer (in-charge) of the Jangal Mahal i.e. Paschim Medinipur, Purulia and Bankura districts. He was successful in expanding the party's base in these districts.[21] In 2009, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Tamluk constituency.[24] He defeated his nearest rival Lakshman Seth of Communist Party of India (Marxist) by a margin of approximately 173,000 votes.[25]
In the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, Adhikari was pitted against Abdul Kadir Sheikh of the Left Front – Indian National Congress alliance in Nandigram constituency.[20] After getting elected, he resigned as an MP from Tamluk constituency.[26] He was sworn in as the Minister of Transport in the Second Mamata Banerjee ministry on 27 May 2016.[27]
Entry into Bharatiya Janata Party and 2021 elections
Adhikari stepped down from the post of chairman of Hooghly River Bridge Commission (HRBC), a statutory body under the Government of West Bengal on 26 November 2020.[28] He also resigned as West Bengal Transport Minister on 27 November 2020.[29] He had tendered his resignation to the speaker of West Bengal Legislative Assembly as MLA on 16 December 2020 which was not accepted by the speaker initially on grounds of technicality. However, it was eventually accepted on 21 December 2020. [30] On 17 December 2020 he resigned from the primary membership of All India Trinamool Congress.[31][32]
On 19 December 2020, he joined Bharatiya Janata Party in presence of Home Minister Amit Shah.[33][34] Adhikari's defection was reportedly caused due his rivalry with Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who was being groomed as her heir-apparent.[35]
He defeated the sitting chief minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram assembly seat in 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election by 1,956 votes. Mamata Banerjee has filed an election petition in Calcutta High Court challenging the verdict of Nandigram.[7]
On 10 May, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced Suvendu Adhikari as leader of the BJP legislature party in the West Bengal assembly.[36]
2026 elections
In 2026 West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections, Suvendu simultaneously contested in both Nandigram as well as Bhabanipur, the seat held by outgoing CM Mamata Banerjee and won both by a spectacular margin. The last time when an incumbent CM was defeated on their own seat by a person contesting in 2 seats was in 1967, when Ajoy Mukherjee of Bangla Congress defeated the then CM Prafulla Chandra Sen of the Congress party in his Arambag seat while retaining his own Tamluk seat.[37]
After his 2026 election win, Suvendu Adhikari claimed support came mainly from Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh voters, not Muslim voters. He said Muslim votes largely went to the opposition, highlighting religious voting patterns.[38]
On the night of 6 May 2026, assailants on bikes shot dead Suvendu's personal assistant Chandranath Rath.[39]
On 8 May 2026, he was elected leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party Legislative Party in West Bengal in the presence of central observer Amit Shah. He is scheduled to take oath as the 9th Chief Minister of West Bengal on 9 May 2026, becoming the first chief minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party to hold the office.[40][41]
Chief Minister of West Bengal (2026–present)
Adhikari took oath as the Chief Minister of West Bengal on 9 May 2026 at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata.[42]
Electoral history
Legislative Assembly
| Year | Constituency | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Opponent
Party |
Opponent
Votes |
% | Margin | in % | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Mugberia | AITC | 59,724 | 46.90% | Kiran Moy Nanda | WBSP | 64,415 | 50.58% | −4,691 | −3.68% | Lost | ||
| 2006 | Kanthi Dakshin | 68,608 | 50.60% | Satyendra Nath Panda | CPI | 60,028 | 38.31% | 8,580 | 6.30% | Won | |||
| 2016 | Nandigram | 1,34,623 | 67.20% | Abdul Kabir Sekh | 53,393 | 26.70% | 81,230 | 40.60% | Won | ||||
| 2021 | BJP | 1,10,764 | 48.49% | Mamata Banerjee | AITC | 1,08,808 | 47.64% | 1,956 | 0.85% | Won | |||
| 2026 | 1,27,301 | 50.37% | Pabitra Kar | 1,17,636 | 46.55% | 9,665 | 3.82% | Won | |||||
| Bhabanipur | 73,917 | 53.02% | Mamata Banerjee | 58,812 | 42.19% | 15,105 | 10.83% | Won | |||||
Lok Sabha
| Year | Constituency | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Opponent
Party |
Opponent
Votes |
% | Margin | Margin
in % |
Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Tamluk | AITC | 4,49,848 | 43.60% | Lakshman Chandra Seth | CPI(M) | 5,07,228 | 49.20% | −57,380 | −5.60% | Lost | ||
| 2009 | 6,37,664 | 55.54% | 4,64,706 | 40.50% | 1,72,958 | 15.90% | Won | ||||||
| 2014 | 7,16,928 | 53.60% | Sheikh Ibrahim Ali | 4,70,447 | 35.20% | 2,46,481 | 18.40% | Won | |||||
Political stances
Immigration and the CAA
Suvendu Adhikari has advocated for stricter measures against illegal immigration in West Bengal. On 25 October 2025, he claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was not against Indian Muslims; rather, they wished to deport Rohingya Muslim refugees, whom he called "infiltrators".[43] He has accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of assisting in the settlement of these refugees using fake documents and facilitating their inclusion in voter lists. He claimed that there were 90 lakh "fake voters" in Bengal.[44][45]
Particularly in the wake of the political instability in Bangladesh and anti-Hindu violence there in 2024 and 2025, Adhikari has linked the concern over immigration of Bangladeshi Muslims to the need for greater border security, claiming that the Hindu-majority West Bengal's demographic change was being accelerated by illegal immigration of Muslims. He has demanded increased surveillance at the border to prevent uncontrolled immigration, organised protests near the India-Bangladesh border, and threatened to impose trade sanctions if attacks on Hindus continued.[46][47] On 17 October 2025, he assured Indian Muslims that the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list would only target "Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators", not any valid citizens, and that the SIR is part of an effort to purify the electoral rolls without affecting the native population.[48][49]
Adhikari campaigned for the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to grant citizenship to persecuted Hindu refugees from Bangladesh. On 25 October 2025, he urged Bangladeshi Hindu refugees in West Bengal to apply for citizenship at CAA awareness camps.[50] During the 2024 unrest in Bangladesh, he warned of up to 1 crore Hindu refugees fleeing to West Bengal, called for the state to be prepared, and cited the CAA's provisions for non-Muslim refugees who entered from neighbouring countries before 31 December 2014.[51][52]
Bangladesh
Suvendu Adhikari has frequently made statements concerning violence against Hindus in Bangladesh and India Bangladesh relations. In December 2025, he warned that he would disrupt the functioning of Bangladesh’s Deputy High Commission in Kolkata over the lynching of Dipu Das in Bangladesh.[53] During a later protest, he said that if the violence against Hindus did not stop, India's Hindus would be "teaching a lesson" to Bangladesh as Israel had done to Gaza and India had done to Pakistan. This drew sharp criticism from the Trinamool Congress, which called the speech a "bloodthirsty call for mass murder and ethnic cleansing".[54][55]
In 2024, the TMC accused Suvendu Adhikari of making communal remarks before bypolls and complained to the Election Commission.[56][57] During the 2025 Murshidabad violence, Adhikari alleged attacks on Hindus and criticised law enforcement.[58][59][60] In 2025, he also drew criticism for advising against travel to Muslim-majority areas.[61][62][63]
Corruption
Adhikari has accused the TMC of large-scale corruption.[64]
Chit fund scandal
Adhikari has spoken extensively about West Bengal's chit fund scandals, alleging the involvement of the Trinamool Congress leadership and the state administration. In July 2023, he publicly offered to supply the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) with evidence concerning Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's alleged involvement in the Saradha Group financial scandal, while accusing the agency of hesitancy in interrogating high-ranking officials.[65] Earlier, in March 2023, he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, questioning the CBI's reluctance to take action against high-placed individuals accused in the decade-old Sarada case, and called for decisive steps to dismantle state-level protection rackets.[66] In a separate letter to the CBI Director that same month, he highlighted delays in the investigation of multiple chit fund operations, alleging that Kunal Ghosh, a TMC politician, had influenced the probe even from custody.[67]
Adhikari himself was questioned by the CBI in 2014 over the Saradha Group financial scandal, which allegedly defrauded investors of about ₹25,000 crore.[68] Though investigated for alleged links with Saradha-backed media and events, he was not named in any chargesheet.[69] In 2020, Saradha chief Sudipta Sen accused Adhikari of extortion and promoting the scheme, allegations Adhikari denied as politically motivated.[70][71] As of October 2025, no charges against him had resulted in conviction.[72]
Sandeshkhali raid
After the April 2024 Sandeshkhali raid by the CBI, Adhikari claimed that uncovered weaponry linked the TMC to the assault on Enforcement Directorate staff. He demanded that Mamata Banerjee be arrested and that the TMC be declared a terrorist organisation [73]
Narada Sting Operation Case
Suvendu Adhikari was linked to the Narada sting operation case, in which several TMC leaders were allegedly filmed accepting cash bribes in a 2014 sting operation.[74] Adhikari denied the allegations, while the CBI and ED investigated the case, which gained renewed attention after his move to the BJP in 2021.[75][76]
Post-poll violence
Following the declaration of the West Bengal Assembly election results on 2 May 2021, Adhikari compiled documentation of the post-election violence, including videos and affidavits detailing attacks on BJP workers that began on 3 May. In May 2021, he filed a writ petition in the Calcutta High Court, annexing evidence of targeted attacks, property destruction, and displacement across various districts, which led to judicial monitoring and orders for registering FIRs.[77] As a result of these efforts, in July 2021, amid the government's denial of retaliatory violence against opposition supporters, the High Court issued a mandatory directive compelling the state to register cases for all reported incidents and to cooperate with the National Human Rights Commission's investigation.[78][79]
