Suvendu Adhikari: Ex-Mamata loyalist, who defeated her twice, to be Bengal's 1st BJP CM

Fri, 08 May 2026 11:39:27 +0000
India

Suvendu Adhikari comes from one of the state’s most influential political families. His father, Sisir Adhikari, served both in the West Bengal Assembly and the Lok Sabha, while his brother Dibyendu Adhikari was earlier a Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP before joining the BJP in 2024. Suvendu began his political journey with the Congress during the 1995 municipal polls before moving to the newly formed TMC alongside his father in 1998. He rose rapidly within Mamata Banerjee’s party and became one of its strongest organisational faces in coastal Bengal.