Suvendu Adhikari At 55: His Political Rise, Family Background And Why He Is Still Unmarried

Kolkata: Following the historic victory in the recently held 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday announced Suvendu Adhikari as the next Chief Minister of the state.

Who proposed the name?

During the legislature party meeting, senior BJP leader and former state president Dilip Ghosh proposed Suvendu Adhikari’s name and later Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who attended the meeting as the central observer, officially announced Adhikari as Bengal’s next CM.

"I announce the name of Suvendu Adhikari as elected Leader of the West Bengal BJP Legislative Party," said Amit Shah.

Who is Suvendu Adhikari?

Suvendu Adhikari, who was born on December 15, 1970, to Sisir Adhikari and Gayatri Adhikari in Karkuli, and located in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district, began his political career with the Congress party, then joined the Trinamool Congress in 1998, along with Mamata Banerjee.

However, internal differences within the TMC eventually led to Suvendu's exit and entry into the BJP

Suvendu Adhikari is unmarried and belongs to the Utkal Brahmin community.

What is reason that Suvendu is not married?

Back in 2021, Suvendu Adhikari in an interview had said that, "I am unmarried, and the best part about celibacy is that I have a lot of time for work and no personal obligations."

Referring to freedom fighters such as Satish Samanta, Sushil Dhara and Ajoy Mukherjee, Suvendu said that, "All three of them remained unmarried, and I have followed their path, choosing to remain unmarried as well."

What about Suvendu's political life?

Suvendu began his political career in 1989 with the Congress Student Council. He rose to prominence in 1995 when he was elected as a councilor in the Contai Municipality. When the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was founded in 1998, Suvendu joined the Trinamool Congress. Gradually, he gained a foothold in politics and became so strong that he won his Lok Sabha seat in 2014 despite the PM Modi wave. Mamata Banerjee also acknowledged his strength and gave him important portfolios such as Transport and Irrigation.

In 2020, Suvendu Adhikari became disillusioned with the TMC and resigned from the Trinamool Congress and his MLA post in December 2020, joining the BJP at Amit Shah's rally in Medinipur. Subsequently, in the 2021 assembly elections, Suvendu Adhikari defeated Mamata Banerjee from Nandigram. Following this victory, he became one of the most prominent BJP leaders in West Bengal. The BJP later appointed him Leader of the Opposition.

In the 2026 assembly elections, Suvendu Adhikari contested from two seats (Nandigram and Bhawanipur) and won both. He defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from Bhawanipur, who had contested the assembly elections from Bhawanipur.