SUVENDU ADHIKARI CHOSEN OPPOSITION LEADER IN HOUSE
Suvendu Adhikari, the Nandigram strongman who defeated his former mentor Mamata Banerjee in the recent assembly elections in West Bengal, will now face off against her as leader of the opposition in the state assembly .
Adhikari joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in December, defecting from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and his win in Nandigram was one of the few bright spots for the former in an election in which it hoped to win at least 200 seats and unseat Banerjee, but eventually ended up winning only 77. The TMC won 213, and while Banerjee, who lost to Adhikari by a margin of 1,900 votes demanded a recount, which was turned down by the Election Commission.
“As leader of the Opposition my first priority will be to carry out a movement to free Bengal of political violence and establish parliamentary democracy. The killings and arson must stop,” said Adhikari. His reference is to a spate of violence that has swept the state, with TMC workers allegedly targetting the political opposition, primarily the BJP but also Left Front workers.
BJP national vice-president Mukul Roy, one of the founder members of the TMC and now a BJP national vice-president, profication posed Adhikari’s name when the BJP’s newly elected legislators met at the party’s election office. Of the 77 BJP MLAs, 52 were present at the meeting. Since Roy is senior to Adhikari and he won the polls from Krishnanagar in Nadia district, many leaders in the party thought he would be elected leader of the opposition. But Roy brushed aside the speculations, saying, “I am too old.” “Twenty-two MLAs supported Adhikari’s nomination. Since there was no other nomination, he was unanimously elected leader of the BJP’s legislative party,” announced Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Kolkata-based poll analyst Udayan Bandopadhyay said, “Adhikari joined the BJP five months ago. His becoming leader of the opposition may demoralise many leaders who worked hard for years.”