From Lieutenant To Arch Rival: How Suvendu Adhikari Flipped The Script On Mamata Banerjee

Suvendu Vs Mamata: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari is set to write a new chapter of Bengal politics as he will take oath as the first saffron party's chief minister of the state at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on May 9. On Friday, Adhikari was elected the leader of the BJP legislature party in West Bengal.

His rise to the chief minister post in the rival camp would be an uncomfortable moment for his former boss and the Trinamool Congress chief, Mamata Banerjee. Mamata and Suvendu, both leaders, have almost simultaneously built their political stature in Bengal politics. When they were friends, they were invincible to their opponents due to their leadership ability and aggressive politics.

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Journey In Trinamool Congress

Suvendu joined the TMC when it was just one year old in 1998. Mamata and Suvendhi were both Congress members and had several similarities. They jointly worked to curb the Left's might in the early 2000s. Two people's movements: the Till the Singur agitation in 2006 and the Nandigram protests in 2007, were the turning point in their careers. Suvendu was the right-hand man or lieutenant of Mamata. He played a pivotal role in both movements, especially in Nandigram. Mamata reposed her trust in Suvendu and gave him command to lead the movement, which caused a paradigm shift in the electoral ground in Bengal from the Left to the TMC.

In 2006, Adhikari won the Contai South assembly seat on the TMC ticket and became the number 2 leader in the party with backing from his leader, Mamata. Until they were in the Opposition, the tuning between the duo was fine and in synch.

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What Went Wrong With Suvendu And Mamata

Things started going wrong when the TMC stormed to power in the 2011 assembly elections by winning 182 seats, marking the end of three-decade dominance of the Left in Bengal. Adhikari was credited equally with the historical electoral success along with Mamata. A power struggle began in the party after the arrival of Mamata's nephew Abhishek Banerjee in the party. Now, focus shifted from Suvendu to Abhishek when it comes to the discussion over the successor of Mamata. A clique in the party started pushing Abhishek over Suvendu, which triggered the eclipsing of his influence in the party. In 2020, the power struggles turned ugly, and Suvendu sensed that his future in the party was not so secure. Abhishek started replacing him in the posters and banners. Soon, Mamata's kin became the poster boy of the party. Subsequently, Suvendu left TMC in December 2020 and joined the BJP.

Suvendu strengthened the BJP

Suvendu was a big name when he joined the saffron party. The BJP was struggling at that time. It had just three MLAs in the Assembly. Suvendu injected new blood into the party, riding on his popularity. He succeeded in making a cocktail of Bangali culture and Hindutva. Suvendu is credited with rebooting the BJP's strategy in Bengal and repositioning Hindutva by mixing Bengali pride politics.

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Suvendu Vs Mamata

Suvendu put himself at the front against Mamata. The BJP did not hesitate to allow him to lead the fight against her as he was well aware of Mamata's strategy and her weakness. He emerged as the biggest challenger to the TMC chief. In the assembly elections 2021, he not only contested against the Chief Minister in the Nandigram constituency, but also defeated her in the most prestigious poll battle. Five years later, Suvendu took on her in the Bhabanipur constituency and here too he outsmarted a sitting CM. He was defeated twice in a row.