Suvendu Adhikari on Monday defeated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency, marking a dramatic turn in one of India's most closely watched political rivalries. The constituency in West Bengal has long been associated with Mamata, who first won it in 2011 when her party ended 34 years of Left Front rule. She retained the seat in 2016 and returned via a bypoll in 2021. On Monday, however, shelost the seatto Adhikari by over 15,000 votes.
Political history in India has often seen close allies turn into rivals, including recent examples such as Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar breaking away from Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar respectively. Few such splits, however, have been as politically significant as that between Mamata and Adhikari in West Bengal.
Mamata rose through the Congress ranks before founding the All India Trinamool Congress, while Adhikari comes from a politically influential family in Purba Medinipur. His father, Sisir Adhikari, is a former Congress leader and Union minister. The family remains a dominant force in the region, often described locally as "political monarchs".
Adhikari began his political career with the Congress, serving as a councillor in Kanthi municipality. He joined the Trinamool Congress in 1998 and became an MLA in 2006 from Kanthi Dakshin. He rose to prominence during the Nandigram movement in 2007, when protests erupted against a proposed chemical hub under the Left Front government.
He led the Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee, which opposed land acquisition plans. On 14 March 2007, police firing on protesters left 14 people dead, triggering widespread unrest and eventually leading to the shelving of the project.
Alongside similar protests in Singur, the movement helped bring the Trinamool Congress to power in 2011.
BJP supporters celebrate party's win in West Bengal.
Following the 2011 victory, Adhikari was elected to the Lok Sabha from Tamluk in 2009 and again in 2014. After the 2016 Assembly elections, Mamata brought him into her cabinet, assigning him key portfolios including transport.
He was widely regarded as one of her most trusted lieutenants, but internal tensions grew over time, particularly as the influence of Abhishek Banerjee, the chief minister's nephew, expanded within the party.
Differences also emerged with political strategist Prashant Kishor, who began working with the party after 2019.
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