Suvendu Adhikari, one of the principal architects of the BJP’s rise in West Bengal, has been sworn in as the first BJP Chief Minister of the State at a grand ceremony at Brigade Parade Grounds on Saturday (May 9, 2026).

From spearheading protests over the alleged post-poll violence following the 2021 Assembly elections to leading marches towards State Secretariat ‘Nabanna’ and mobilising cadres over issues of corruption, unemployment and law and order, Mr. Adhikari consistently positioned himself at the centre of the party’s political offensives.

Also read: Suvendu Adhikari Oath-taking ceremony LIVE

The senior BJP leader was unanimously elected the leader of the BJP Legislature Party in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the party’s top State leadership, paving the way for him to become the first BJP Chief Minister of West Bengal.

Below is a timeline of key events in his political career, from being a member of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to becoming the Chief Minister of West Bengal.

Early life

Born in Karkuli village in Purba Medinipur district to veteran politician Sisir Adhikari and Gayatri Adhikari, Mr. Adhikari’s formative years were marked by his primary and secondary education at Contai High School, followed by an undergraduate degree in Arts from Prabhat Kumar College in the same region.

He later earned a Master’s degree in History from Kolkata’s Rabindra Bharati University. This trajectory reinforced his image as a quintessential Bengali political figure whose rise was forged not outside, but from within the heartland of the State itself.

Political beginnings

He began his political career in the Congress’s student wing, Chhatra Parishad, during the peak of Left dominance in Bengal politics. He was first elected a Councillor of Kanthi Municipality in 1995 and later joined the TMC after Mamata Banerjee floated the party in 1998.

His organisational skills helped the TMC consolidate its base in Purba Medinipur and challenge the CPI(M)’s entrenched political machinery.

Political ascent with TMC and defection to BJP

Mr. Adhikari was Ms. Banerjee’s most trusted general during the Nandigram anti-land acquisition movement in 2007. He was later elected MP in 2009 and again in 2014. In the 2016 State Assembly election, he was elected as MLA from Nandigram and became a Minister in the TMC Cabinet.

As far as experience in State administration is concerned, Mr. Adhikari happens to be the most conversant of BJP leaders in the State, who functioned as Minister of Transport from May 2016 to November 2020 and also a Minister of the Environment Department from 2018 to 2020 in the earstwhile Mamata Banerjee Cabinet.

Mr. Adhikari switched to the BJP in December 2020 ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls, dramatically altering Bengal’s political landscape.

Election victory and leadership

In the 2021 elections, he defeated Ms. Banerjee in the high-profile Nandigram contest by a narrow margin of 1,956 votes and emerged as the face of the BJP’s aggressive opposition politics in the State as the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.

Five years later, Mr. Adhikari dealt another symbolic blow to Ms. Banerjee by defeating her in Bhabanipur by over 15,000 votes, considered the TMC chief’s political stronghold, as the BJP stormed to power.

In the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, the BJP secured 207 seats, while the TMC won 80 seats, marking an end to its 15-year rule in the State and echoing the spirit of ‘Poriborton’.

Mr. Adhikari’s elevation as Chief Minister marks the culmination of a political journey spanning the Congress, the TMC, and now the BJP, a journey that has placed him at the helm of Bengal’s first saffron government

(With PTI and ANI inputs)