Suvendu, once a loyalist of Mamata, now set to become West Bengal's next CM
Born on 15 December 1970 in Karkuli village of Purba Medinipur district, Suvendu comes from one of Bengal’s influential political families.
For Suvendu Adhikari, who is set to become West Bengal's first BJP chief minister, the political journey has come full circle.
Once considered one of Mamata Banerjee's closest loyalists in the Trinamool Congress, Suvendu is now poised to succeed his former mentor as the top leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Bengal – the very party he once fiercely opposed.
Born on 15 December 1970 in Karkuli village of Purba Medinipur district, Suvendu comes from one of Bengal's influential political families. His father, Sisir Adhikari, served both in the West Bengal Assembly and the Lok Sabha, while his brother Dibyendu Adhikari was previously a TMC MP before joining the BJP in 2024.
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Suvendu began his political career with the Congress during the 1995 municipal elections before joining Mamata Banerjee's newly formed TMC alongside his father in 1998.
He quickly emerged as one of the party's strongest organisational leaders in coastal Bengal and entered the West Bengal Assembly in 2006 after winning from the Kanthi Dakshin constituency.
Suvendu later played a crucial role in the Singur and Nandigram movements against the Left Front government's land acquisition policy — protests that significantly boosted Mamata Banerjee's rise to power in 2011.
Known for his extensive grassroots network in East Midnapore, Suvendu became one of the TMC's key political strategists. However, his relationship with Mamata gradually deteriorated amid the growing prominence of her nephew Abhishek Banerjee within the party.
In 2020, Suvendu switched to the BJP, a move that coincided with the saffron party's rapid rise in Bengal politics.
From securing just 77 seats in the 2021 assembly elections, the BJP surged to 208 seats in the 2026 polls, marking the party's first major breakthrough in the state.
Suvendu's political stature rose sharply after he defeated Mamata Banerjee in the high-profile Nandigram contest in 2021 by nearly 2,000 votes, despite her decision to challenge him on his home turf.
He further strengthened his image as the BJP's most powerful face in Bengal by defeating Mamata again in 2026 – this time in her long-time stronghold of Bhabanipur in Kolkata by more than 15,000 votes.
Having twice defeated one of India's most formidable regional leaders, Suvendu emerged as the clear choice to lead the BJP's first government in West Bengal.
