New Delhi: The emergence of Suvendu Adhikari as the BJP’s choice for the chief ministerial post in West Bengal comes after years of establishing himself as the party’s strongest anti-Mamata Banerjee face in the state. From defeating the Trinamool Congress supremo in his own den to leading the BJP’s aggressive Hindutva-driven campaign, Adhikari has steadily emerged as the saffron party’s strongest leader in Bengal. Adhikari’s stature within the party was further strengthened by the BJP’s landslide victory in the state, winning 207 seats in the 294-member assembly and ending TMC’s 15-year rule. His electoral success, grassroots influence, insider understanding of TMC and ability to consolidate anti-Trinamool votes ultimately made him the natural choice of the BJP leadership to lead its first government in West Bengal.

Giant killer: The man who defeated Mamata twice in her own stronghold

The biggest reason behind BJP choosing Suvendu Adhikari as the face of its first government in West Bengal is his landslide victory. Mamata Banerjee In Bhabanipur, a constituency long considered the political stronghold of the Trinamool Congress supremo. Defeating a sitting chief minister on his home turf gave Adhikari unmatched political weight within the BJP and he instantly emerged as the party’s strongest leader in the state.A former close aide of Mamata Banerjee who later defected to the BJP, Adhikari emerged as the most aggressive anti-TMC face of the saffron party in Bengal. In the high-stakes Bhabanipur contest, he secured 73,917 votes against Mamata Banerjee’s 58,812, defeating her by a margin of 15,105 votes, making it the closest battle of the election.The result has immense symbolic significance as Bhabanipur is historically deeply associated with Mamata Banerjee’s political identity. Located in the Kolkata district and part of the Kolkata South parliamentary constituency, the seat has long been considered one of the safest strongholds of the Trinamool Congress. After losing to Adhikari in Nandigram in the 2021 assembly elections, Mamata returned to the assembly later that year by easily winning the Bhabanipur bypoll with over 65,000 votes.For the BJP leadership, Adhikari’s victory proved that he is capable of directly challenging Mamata Banerjee in areas where the opposition has traditionally struggled, not once, but twice.

No option, at least for now

Although there were a few contenders for the top post, there was no one who could come close to Adhikari, at least for now. Although several BJP leaders strengthened their positions in the elections, none matched Adhikari’s electoral impact. His victory in both Nandigram and Bhawanipur established him as the party’s strongest anti-TMC face and a leader capable of directly challenging Mamata Banerjee.Agnimitra Paul retained the Asansol South assembly seat by defeating Trinamool Congress candidate Tapas Banerjee by over 40,000 votes, further cementing her position as one of the rising leaders of the BJP in Bengal. Senior leader Dilip Ghosh also won from Kharagpur Sadar assembly constituency, reasserting his hold within the party organisation.However, despite the presence of leaders like Paul and Ghosh, the BJP leadership could not find anyone who could match Adhikari’s ground influence, organizational control and political stature in Bengal. Although there were a few contenders for the top job, no one came close to being the official – at least for now.

Insider on TMC playbook

The BJP also sees Suvendu Adhikari as a leader who understands the Trinamool Congress from the inside, having spent more than two decades within the party before switching sides in 2020.Adhikari started his political career with the Congress and became a councilor in Kanthi Municipality in 1995 before joining the Trinamool Congress in 1998. Over the years, he emerged as one of the most influential grassroots organizers of the party and played a key role in the Nandigram land movement against the Left Front government in 2007, a movement that ultimately helped Mamata Banerjee come to power in Bengal.He became Lok Sabha MP from Tamluk in 2009 and retained the seat in 2014 before returning to state politics as a Trinamool MLA from Nandigram in 2016 and a cabinet minister in the Mamata Banerjee government. His long association with TMC gave him deep knowledge of the party’s organizational structure, electoral strategies and voter networks.After quitting TMC and joining BJP in December 2020, Adhikari soon became the saffron party’s sharpest weapon against Mamata Banerjee. His victory in Nandigram in the 2021 assembly elections further strengthened his stature and ultimately made him the leader of the opposition in West Bengal.

Hindutva appeal that matches BJP’s core politics

Another major factor behind the rise of Suvendu Adhikari as the chief ministerial face of the BJP was his ability to consolidate Hindu votes, a strategy that closely matches with the BJP’s broader political identity and electoral vision in Bengal.After winning in both Nandigram and Bhabanipur, Adhikari openly credited Hindu voters for his victory, especially in Nandigram where he defeated TMC candidate Pabitra Kar by 9,665 votes. “This time I won the election by about ten thousand votes. The Hindu people of Nandigram made me win again. The entire Muslim vote there went to TMC. I will work for the Hindus of Nandigram,” ANI quoted Adhikari as saying a day after the assembly election results.For the BJP leadership, Adhikari’s success strengthened the party’s belief that he could emerge as the central face of Hindu solidarity in Bengal politics. His aggressive attacks on TMC, coupled with strong messaging around ideology and identity politics, resonated with the BJP’s core support base in the state.

assertive aggressive leader

The emergence of Suvendu Adhikari as the BJP’s choice for chief minister was also driven by his image as the party’s most vocal and aggressive opposition leader in West Bengal, a politician who consistently fought Mamata Banerjee and the TMC directly, both politically and ideologically.Throughout the campaign, Adhikari projected himself as the BJP’s strongest Hindutva voice in the state. From leading Ramnavmi rallies in Bhawanipur and calling for “Ram Rajya” in Bengal to openly crediting Hindu voters for his victory, he aligned himself with the core ideological message of the BJP. He has repeatedly attacked TMC on issues of infiltration, minority appeasement and law and order and has established himself as the face of the aggressive anti-TMC movement.After the election results, his fighting style became even more visible. The BJP’s landslide victory, winning 207 seats in the 294-member assembly while the TMC was reduced to 80 seats after ruling Bengal for 15 years, further cemented Adhikari’s stature as the undisputed face of the party in the state.

Kolkata, May 08 (ANI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Kolkata on Friday congratulated BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on being elected the leader of the West Bengal BJP Legislature Party and becoming the new Chief Minister of the state.

BJPThe elevation of Suvendu Adhikari as the first Chief Minister in West Bengal is the culmination of a campaign that brought success to the party in a state that had long been described as the “last frontier”.“Like the neighboring Northeast, the BJP’s eventual rise to power in West Bengal was led by a man who had joined the party from its staunch rival. officer switched Trinamool The Congress (TMC) defeated its former guru, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, twice in December 2020 – first in her stronghold Nandigram in 2021 and later in her stronghold Bhawanipur in the recent assembly elections.

Suvendu Adhikari

With Adhikari’s elevation, the BJP formally placed one of its most prominent recent entrants into power in West Bengal, underscoring the party’s continued reliance on “outsiders” to win politically difficult areas.

BJP’s success in West Bengal

Adhikari’s joining was among several defectors joining the BJP from Trinamool ahead of the 2021 West Bengal elections. With the BJP on the rise after winning a record 18 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2019 and battling “Didi” anti-incumbency after being in power for a decade, many TMC leaders joined the saffron camp, confident that there will be a change of power in Kolkata. However, this was not to be. BJP’s seat share in the 294-member assembly increased by just three to 77, but Trinamool won 215 constituencies to clinch victory for the third consecutive time. Due to this, many TMC parties returned to their parent party, and some BJP MLAs also changed sides.

West Bengal Assembly Election 2021 Results

Nevertheless, Adhikari stayed on and was appointed leader of the opposition in the assembly. He later became more aggressive in his attacks on Banerjee and TMC.In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP suffered another setback in West Bengal, where its seats dropped from 18 constituencies to 12, while the Trinamool Congress’ tally increased from 23 to 29. The state was one of several where the BJP lost ground, reducing its seats at the national level from 303 to 240 and forcing the party to depend on allies to form the government at the Centre.In the months that followed, the BJP regained momentum and won several state elections and ultimately won a landslide victory in West Bengal.

Bihar before West Bengal

Adhikari’s promotion comes less than a month after the promotion of Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary, who, like him, did not start his political career with the BJP. After earlier stints with Samata Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Chaudhary joined the party from Janata Dal (United) in 2017.Samrat Choudhary, son of veteran politician Shakuni Choudhary, replaced JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar, who had led the state for more than two decades. After the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was re-elected with a landslide victory in the Bihar elections in November 2025, Kumar returned as CM for a record 10th time, with Choudhary serving as one of his deputies.

bihar election results

However, there were already signs of a leadership change. Apart from Kumar’s declining health, the BJP became the largest party in Bihar for the first time, making the change of power in Patna a question of “when”, not “if”.

Nitish Kumar retirement

That “when” was answered when Kumar announced last month that he would return to Parliament through the Rajya Sabha, paving the way for the BJP to take over as chief minister in Bihar for the first time.

BJP’s dominance in the North-East

Before the BJP’s entry in West Bengal and emergence as the largest party in Bihar, it was the Northeast that the party first turned into a stronghold, starting with its victory in Assam in 2016.Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is widely seen as the architect of this dominance in the northeast. Sarma, a former Congress leader who joined the BJP in 2015, played a key role in the party’s Assam victory the following year. While Sarbananda Sonowal became the first BJP chief minister in the state, Sarma took over after the party retained power in 2021, with Sonowal moving to the Union Cabinet. In the recent assembly elections, the BJP under Sarma won 82 seats in the 126-member assembly, crossing the majority mark on its own for the first time and securing its third consecutive term in power. Like Sarma, several sitting or former chief ministers of the BJP in the Northeast had joined the party shortly before rising to the top post. For example, Pema Khandu, Manik Saha and N Biren Singh, among others, were in the Congress before switching to the BJP in 2016, but later led BJP governments in their respective states.

Exception

However, the strategy of inducting outsiders and promoting them to key positions has not worked for the BJP in every politically difficult state.In Punjab, former Congress MP Sunil Jakhar joined the BJP in May 2022 and was appointed president of the party’s state unit a little more than a year later. However, this strategy failed to yield electoral gains. In the 2024 general elections, the BJP failed to open its account in Punjab and also lost the two seats it had won in alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal in 2019. Later, reports emerged in September that Jakhar had resigned from the post, but the BJP denied the claims and that he would continue to serve as the party’s Punjab unit chief. He faces a tough challenge in making the BJP a serious contender in Punjab ahead of the February 2027 elections, where the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress remain the two major rivals.In a major blow to AAP, seven of its Rajya Sabha MPs, including Raghav Chadha, joined the BJP last month. All seven MPs were elected from Punjab and the BJP is hopeful that their inclusion will strengthen its prospects in the state.Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the BJP failed to return to power despite the induction of former chief minister Champai Soren, who had parted ways with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha ahead of the 2024 assembly elections.

Punjab: The next test of BJP’s ‘outsider’ model

With the BJP’s rise to power in West Bengal, Jharkhand now becomes the only remaining eastern state outside its control, along with Mizoram in the northeast.Its rise in non-Hindi speaking states, especially West Bengal, as well as Odisha led to the formation of its first government under domestic leader Mohan Charan Majhi in June 2024, helping the party shed its image of being limited to the Hindi heartland.The “outsider” model will be next tested in Punjab, where the BJP has been part of a coalition government but has never ruled on its own.

New Delhi: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut US President Donald Trump on Friday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi on BJP’s West Bengal election victory as “premature and wrong”, saying state elections are an “internal matter of India’s federal democracy”.In a post tagging Trump on Twitter, Raut said “any outside support seems premature and wrong” and urged the US President to take a “more informed and balanced approach” to the elections.Raut said, “As an MP of India, I write in response to reports of your congratulations to PM Narendra Modi on the West Bengal Assembly election results. These are state-level elections – an internal matter of India’s federal democracy.”The Rajya Sabha MP further alleged that the West Bengal elections were conducted amid an atmosphere of “fear, intimidation and systemic pressure”. He alleged that there is a “widespread perception” that the Election Commission of India does not function impartially and its functioning appears to favor the BJP, raising questions about “institutional neutrality”.“There are allegations regarding widespread deployment of central forces, which many believe have created pressure rather than trust. Senior leaders are also involved Mamata Banerjeehave publicly raised concerns about the fairness of the process,” he wrote.Raut said, “Democracy is not just about elections – it is about ensuring that they are free, fair and credible. When serious allegations arise, they need investigation, not celebration.”Earlier this week, the BJP won more than two-thirds majority in the West Bengal Assembly elections, ending Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s 15-year rule. The party also retained power in Assam for a third term. A White House spokesperson on Tuesday said Trump had congratulated Modi on the BJP’s “historic and decisive” victory.Reacting sharply to Raut’s latest remarks, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla hit out at Raut, calling him the “clown of Indian politics” and accused the opposition leaders of trying to tarnish India’s image globally.Poonawalla said in a video post onHe said Indian democracy was being “appreciated across the world” but opposition leaders were spreading “falsehoods” on the electoral process.

New Delhi: Veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Iyer Actor-politician on Friday questioned the decision of the oldest party in Tamil Nadu to extend support to Vijay and his Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam, calling the move “appalling”, morally questionable and politically reckless. Speaking to PTI, Aiyar accused Congress of abandoning its old ally. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Immediately after contesting the elections together. He argued that the Congress owed its five assembly victories entirely to the DMK-led alliance and not to its organizational strength.“This is an unpardonable violation of Mahatma Gandhi’s 1925 dictum ‘Swaraj should be a government based on morality’,” Iyer said. He questioned whether Congress had chosen “Chanakya” over Gandhi in its politics.The Congress on Wednesday broke ties with the DMK and announced its support to Vijay’s TVK to help form the government in Tamil Nadu. The move is one of the biggest political turnarounds in the state in recent years after the TVK surprised both the DMK and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam by winning 108 seats in the 234-member assembly.With the support of five Congress MLAs, the TVK alliance now has 112 seats, still short of the majority mark of 118. The CPI and CPI(M), which have two seats each, are discussing whether to support Vijay, a move that could take the alliance closer to power.However, Aiyar warned that the Congress was sacrificing both morality and long-term political wisdom for immediate gains. “Is this moral or does it even make sense politically,” he asked, adding that the party had shown itself to be “less motivated by the good behaviour, self-restraint and self-sacrifice taught by the Mahatma, and more in favor of immediate rewards”.He also questioned why the Congress would abandon an ally that had consistently stood by it despite political setbacks. Referring to the DMK’s support for Rahul Gandhi, Aiyar wrote in a sharply worded article in Hindu Tammy, “How can the Congress justify demeaning a partner, which alone in the Indian faction declared ‘brother’ Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister?”Aiyar argued that the Congress’ decision may inadvertently help the BJP gain a foothold in Tamil Nadu politics. He wrote, “And if it facilitates the backdoor entry of the communal BJP into the golden ‘chain tameez’ political ethos of Dravidian Tamil Nadu, it will prove to be the worst goal in the history of political football.”The Congress’ decision has already drawn sharp reaction from the DMK, which has described the move as a stab in the back. Meanwhile, protests broke out in Chennai and Madurai, with Congress workers demanding that Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar invite Vijay, as the leader of the largest formation, to form the government.Aiyar’s intervention has once again put the veteran leader at odds with the Congress leadership. His controversial comments have repeatedly embarrassed the party over the years. In recent months, he publicly distanced himself from Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, declaring, “I am a Gandhian, I am a Nehruvian, I am a Rajivian, but I am not a Rahulian.”

New Delhi: The Centre’s advanced child health screening programme, RBSK 2.0, is facing criticism from a national group of doctors with disabilities who say it expands coverage but fails to address disability as a core priority – potentially leaving millions of children out of early diagnosis and care.In a memorandum to the Union Health Ministry, Doctors with Disabilities: Agents of Change, a group of health professionals, said that despite legal mandates and a global shift towards a rights-based health framework, the revised Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) does not meaningfully include disability. The letter was signed by Professor (Dr.) Satendra Singh on behalf of the group.The program continues with the “4Ds” framework – birth defects, deficiencies, diseases and developmental delays – but does not explicitly include disability. The 124-page guidelines document does not mention the word “disability”, raising concerns over compliance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2016.Experts say conditions recognized as disabilities under the law – such as thalassemia, sickle cell disease and haemophilia – are not integrated into screening frameworks, despite significantly contributing to chronic disease and lifelong disability. India accounts for about 10% of the global thalassemia burden, with an estimated 1-1.5 lakh children affected.This omission is a step back from RBSK 1.0, which included hemoglobinopathy screening on an optional basis. Their expulsion comes even as the government is running parallel programs like the National Sickle Cell Eradication Mission.The Group also highlighted the absence of disability indicators in program monitoring and lack of linkage with Unique Disability IDs (UDIDs), thereby weakening accountability.Public health experts stress that prompt testing is important. Globally, almost one in ten children is living with a disability, and they are eight times more likely to die before the age of 17, underscoring the need for early identification and care.They argue that integrating disability into screening is feasible and low-cost. Point-of-care tests for conditions such as sickle cell disease require minimal training and can be deployed in rural settings. Global bodies, including the World Health Assembly, have emphasized universal newborn screening.The collective has urged the government to explicitly include disability, integrate all specified disabilities under the RPWD Act, link with national registries and expand the framework to include persons with disabilities in program design and training.