With the appointment of Suvendu Adhikari as Chief Minister in West Bengal, the BJP has once again demonstrated its willingness to repose faith in leaders who defected from rival parties. In more than half a dozen states, the party has elevated such leaders to the highest executive office. While this has generated unease within sections of the BJP’s old guard, the central leadership appears to view it as a strategic necessity rather than a compromise.
With the exception of Bihar, the BJP has generally turned to defectors in states where it lacked a sufficiently strong indigenous leadership base. Even in Bihar—a key Hindi heartland state—the party surprised observers by appointing Samrat Choudhary, who had joined the BJP in 2017, as Chief Minister after the resignation of JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar. Within seven years of joining, Samrat rose to become state BJP president and ultimately the party’s chief ministerial face. Despite having multiple internal options, the BJP chose to consolidate leadership around him.
A similar calculation appears to have shaped the choice of Suvendu Adhikari in West Bengal. Much like Himanta Biswa Sarma in Assam, Adhikari was seen as a leader capable of delivering decisive governance in a politically volatile state. Bengal, after decades of ideological contestation and intense political rivalry, required—according to BJP strategists—a Chief Minister capable of imposing administrative discipline while consolidating the party’s ideological base.
The Bengal campaign was fought unapologetically on a Hindutva platform. The symbolism at the swearing-in ceremony underscored that message: saffron dominated the venue, chants of “Jai Shri Ram” reverberated across the ground, and Adhikari himself wore saffron attire.
In Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma has already validated the BJP high command’s strategic gamble. Over the past five years, he has transformed himself from a Congress leader into one of the most assertive faces of Hindutva politics.
BJP’s victory in Assam was not accidental. It was achieved under the overarching leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose post-2014 Northeast strategy prioritised political expansion into previously marginal regions. Amit Shah’s organisational strategy played a decisive role in crafting alliances, recalibrating caste and ethnic equations, and strengthening booth-level networks.
Delimitation also emerged as a structural factor that reshaped electoral arithmetic in the state. Combined with the BJP’s organisational consolidation, it altered the competitive landscape.
Leadership factors were equally important. Sarbananda Sonowal, who had earlier joined from the Asom Gana Parishad, provided the BJP with an acceptable and credible regional face during its formative years in Assam. Himanta Biswa Sarma later emerged as the principal mobiliser and political tactician. The synergy between central leadership, strategic recalibration, delimitation, and strong regional faces enabled the BJP to entrench itself in Assam.
In southern India, Basavaraj Bommai, who had joined from the Janata Dal, was appointed Chief Minister of Karnataka in 2021, though the BJP later lost the 2023 Assembly election. In Jharkhand, Arjun Munda—who had earlier been associated with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha—served as Chief Minister between 2003 and 2005. In Uttar Pradesh, Brajesh Pathak, formerly of the BSP, was elevated to Deputy Chief Minister.
In Bihar, Samrat Choudhary’s rise remains particularly striking. Beginning his political journey with the RJD, then moving to JD(U), and finally joining the BJP in 2017, he emerged within eight years as the party’s central figure in the state. Despite controversies and allegations, the BJP high command entrusted him with leading the coalition government.
With Suvendu Adhikari in Bengal and Himanta Biswa Sarma in Assam, the BJP appears to be cultivating a new generation of assertive regional leaders.
