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Suvendu Adhikari, from the influential Adhikari family of Purba Medinipur, leads BJP to a historic 2026 win in West Bengal and is set to become Chief Minister.
Suvendu Adhikari began his poltical career with the Congress and was elected councillor of Kanthi Municipality in 1995. He was born into a powerful political family in East Midnapore. In 1998, his family joined Mamata Banerjee after she floated the Trinamool Congress. His father Sishir Ashikari served as a three-term MP and was Union Minister of State for Rural Development during the UPA-2 government. Suvendu Adhikari himself served two terms as MP during UPA-1 and UPA-2.
Suvendu Adhikari is set to become the next Chief Minister of West Bengal after leading the Bharatiya Janata Party to a historic victory in the 2026 Assembly elections, ending the All India Trinamool Congress’s 15-year rule.
But beyond his rise as the BJP’s Bengal face, Suvendu Adhikari is also part of one of the state’s most influential political dynasties the powerful Adhikari family of Purba Medinipur.
The Patriarch: Sisir Adhikari
The family is headed by Sisir Adhikari, a veteran politician who played a key role in the rise of Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress in Bengal politics before later aligning with the BJP.
Sisir Adhikari served multiple terms as MP from Kanthi and was also a Minister of State in the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government.
The Adhikari family’s political influence is especially strong in the Kanthi-Contai belt of East Midnapore district.
The Brothers In Politics
Suvendu Adhikari’s brothers are also active politicians.
Dibyendu Adhikari represented the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency and has remained a significant political figure in the region. Soumendu Adhikari is currently a BJP MP from Kanthi and previously served as chairman of the Kanthi Municipality.
The family’s coordinated shift from the TMC to the BJP significantly strengthened the saffron party’s organisational network in coastal Bengal.
Suvendu Adhikari’s Personal Life
Born on December 15, 1970, in Purba Medinipur, Suvendu Adhikari is the son of Sisir and Gayatri Adhikari. He holds a Master’s degree from Rabindra Bharati University.
Unlike many political leaders, Adhikari is unmarried and has largely kept his personal life away from public attention.
Rise To Bengal’s Top Post
Suvendu Adhikari first gained statewide prominence during the anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram in 2007, which became a turning point in Bengal politics.
After switching from the TMC to the BJP in 2020, he emerged as Mamata Banerjee’s fiercest political rival and defeated her in Nandigram in the 2021 Assembly elections.
In 2026, he further strengthened his political stature by defeating Banerjee again — this time in Bhabanipur — while also retaining Nandigram.
With the BJP now set to form a government in Bengal for the first time, Suvendu Adhikari is expected to take the oath as Chief Minister in Kolkata in the coming days.
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