“In all positions I occupy, I have been elected, not selected or nominated” Suvendu told the rally, adding that there are certain things you can not say as long as an active member of a political party.
On 10 November, Suvendu Adhikari held a similar “independent” rally in Nandigram on the occasion of Nandigram Dibas, an annual Trinamool commemoration to pay tribute to the 14 civilians shot dead by police during protests against the left-wing government in 2007. .
“I have not arrived here by parachute or taken the elevator. I have arrived here by climbing the stairs, step by step”, in an obvious blow against Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, and now the man not from Trinamool. 2, Abhishek Banerjee.
Suvendu wasn’t lying about actually moving up the political ladder. The son of a congressman, Shishir Adhikari, who has been with Mamata since Trinamool started, Suvendu started as a city councilor before being elected MLA from Dakshin Kanthi in East Midnapore in 2006.
In 2007, he was instrumental in protests against the Nandigram land acquisition, which was ultimately one of the key reasons for the fall of the left-wing government in 2011.
Suvendu then won the Tamluk constituency’s Lok Sabha elections in 2009, and subsequently took over the Maoist riddle area of Jangalmahal, then a stronghold of the CPI (M).
In 2011, when Mamata Banerjee beat the left with a resounding margin, “Pahar hasche, Jangalmahal hasche” (Hills smiles, Jangalmahal smiles) became a battle cry for Trinamool. Clearly, Suvendu has delivered.
Thereafter, he also made significant advances for the Trinamool in Malda and Murshidabad, increasing his influence and importance in the party.
However, tensions began to simmer when Abhishek replaced Suvendu as Trinamool youth wing president in 2015.
Yet despite that, he was appointed a minister after being elected from Nandigram in 2016, and was still known as one of Mamata’s top lieutenants. His relationship with Abhishek, who was gradually being included in the top ranks of the match, remained irritable.
In 2018, prior to Lok Sabha, Mamata gave additional responsibility to the party’s Young Turks, including Abhishek and Suvendu.
After the elections, and the BJP winning 18 seats, Mamata clipped both their wings.
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