As the shadow of defeat now falls on his family turf, why Suvendu Adhikari may have a problem on his hands

In the elections on December 15, the Trinamool Congress claimed to have won 101 seats, including all 15 director seats, while the BJP managed just seven. This heavy loss came though the BJP led in 13 of the 14 Assembly segments in Contai and Tamluk in the recent Lok Sabha polls. Coming on the back of the loss in the Assembly bypolls in July and November, this loss in his turf will make the situation difficult for the Leader of the Opposition.

Though the Lok Sabha polls were a major relief for the BJP leader amid the gloom in the rest of the state, in the cooperative bank itself his grip had been loosening. Suvendu served as the chairman of the cooperative bank till he was removed from the post in August 2021, following the Mamata Banerjee government’s decision to probe the operations of several cooperative banks where he held a position in the governing body. In a relief for the BJP leader, the Calcutta High Court on July 16, 2021, ruled that the bank’s account books could be probed but no special audit can be conducted without its permission.

This latest defeat is likely to dial up the heat on the LoP within his party even as it dents his public perception, giving the TMC a big opportunity to make further inroads in Contai. Though Sukanta Majumdar, now a Union Minister of State, is still the state president, Suvendu has increasingly come to be seen as the person at the helm of Bengal BJP, a leader who enjoys the central leadership’s backing. He had a major say in candidate selection during the Lok Sabha elections and, following the poor showing, faced a backlash from the party’s old guard who questioned his lack of success since he was brought over from the TMC in December 2020 to help the party reach the next level. Among those who are seen as the LoP’s critics in the party is former state president Dilip Ghosh. Some in the party even suggested at the time that the RSS leadership in Bengal was not happy with Suvendu because he was still viewed as an export from the TMC and his image as a leader facing questions about probity in public life.

“Suvendu Adhikari is now the face of our party,” said a senior BJP leader. “After the 2021 Assembly election defeat, our leadership sidelined former state president Dilip Ghosh. New state president Sukanta Majumder also failed to give results. The central leadership is fully banking on Suvendu at the moment. He is giving big speeches but the results are not there.”

A senior BJP leader close to Suvendu said, “The central leadership does have full faith in the LoP. They also know why the party is losing ground. However, if this continues and this decline is not arrested, his position will be at stake.”

Ever since Mamata Banerjee lost to Suvendu in Nandigram, which too is in Purba Medinipur, the TMC has been trying to regain ground in the region and break Suvendu’s hold on his family stronghold. In 2022, the ruling party swept the urban local body elections in the state, winning 102 out of 108 urban civic bodies including Contai. After the failure to do some serious damage in the Lok Sabha elections, this win on the turf of its arch-nemesis is a reason to gloat for the TMC, though what consequences it may actually have down the road remains a big question.

“It is a miserable defeat for Suvendu Adhikari and the BJP. Suvendu wanted to hold elections by deploying central paramilitary forces. He is now being crushed by people’s mandate,” said TMC spokesperson Jayprakash Majumder.