West Bengal Polls: The Bitter Rivalry Between Mamata Banerjee and the Adhikari Family

As West Bengal hurtles towards one of its fiercest poll battles yet, an old friendship has turned into a sharp thorn for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Medinipur’s Adhikaris, once Banerjee’s closest party confidants, have developed into what one could only term the CM’s “arch-nemesis.”

After years of shared camaraderie in the battle against the Left, the Adhikaris chose a path that few saw coming — least of all Banerjee herself. From TMC’s strongest players, the family became the BJP’s Bengal faces. And now the two are set to face-off yet again in the 2026 Assembly polls.

Sisir Adhikari — the Adhikari patriarch — is where the story begins. The bond he built with the young, charismatic and revolutionary Mamata Banerjee dates back right to the birth of the Trinamool Congress in 1998. Banerjee had just broken away from the grand old Congress party to hold a torch to the nearly four-decade Red Citadel of the Left front. In her fight against the iron hold of the CPI(M), Banerjee was flanked by Sisir and his sons who provided the muscle and the grassroots machinery in the crucial Purba Medinipur.

The Nandigram movement of 2007, which served as a cornerstone for Banerjee and her party ultimately launching “Didi” into power in 2011, was pushed and promoted by the Adhikari family. As such, the political powerhouse of a family became the “uncrowned kings” of the south for a decade. Prime portfolios such as transport and irrigation were handed to son Suvendu with brother Dibyendu and father Sisir getting Lok Sabha seats under the TMC’s banner.

However, the cracks in this "friendly family" dynamic began appearing around 2019. Reports suggest two primary catalysts for the fallout. The first was Abhishek Banerjee, Mamata’s nephew, who scaled the party ranks with alarming speed. The result was an unexpected alienation of Suvendu Adhikari who had expected the larger role in the party. The second was Suvendu’s issues with Prashant Kishor. Kishor’s data-driven approach clashed with the system that the Adhikaris had established in Medinipur. Moreover, the Saradha and Narada investigations left long shadows the family struggled to shake off.

In December 2020, Suvendu joined the Bharatiya Janata Party at a massive Medinipur rally. Soon after, his brothers Soumendu and Dibyendu followed suit with even father Sisir Adhikari eventually sharing a stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the 2021 Assembly elections, Suvendu Adhikari defeated Mamata Banerjee in her own seat of Nandigram by a slim margin of 1,956 votes. Banerjee later referred to the family as "Mir Jafars,” a historical reference to betrayal.

With the 2026 polls now riding on Bengal’s heels, the Adhikari family has all but completely transitioned to Didi’s “arch-nemesis.” Currently serving as the Leader of Opposition, Suvendu’s campaigns against the "pishi-bhaipo" (aunt and nephew) rule have intensified. In the battle for the soul of Bengal, the BJP has framed its campaign around jobs and clean governance, while the TMC banks on welfare schemes. Suvendu is contesting in Nandigram against his former aide, Pabitra Kar, who has switched back to the TMC.