With Suvendu Adhikari taking oath as West Bengal's first BJP Chief Minister, the party has once again signalled its willingness to elevate leaders who crossed over from rival political camps.
Over the past decade, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has increasingly relied on influential regional faces from other parties, particularly in states where it lacked a deep organisational network or where it was trying to expand rapidly.
While the BJP traditionally promotes long-time party workers in its core strongholds, several recent chief ministers have come from outside the party fold.
Also Read | Three meetings in 72 hours, no decision yet: Suspense grows over Vijay’s government bid
Suvendu Adhikari's rise in Bengal
Adhikari was once considered one of Mamata Banerjee's closest aides in the Trinamool Congress. He played a key role in the 2007 Nandigram anti-land acquisition movement, which helped Banerjee come to power in 2011.
However, political differences emerged over time, and Adhikari joined the BJP in 2020. He later defeated Banerjee in Nandigram in the 2021 Assembly election and repeated the feat from Bhabanipur in 2026.
The BJP's rapid growth in Bengal, from no seats in 2011 to 207 seats in the latest election, came faster than the development of a strong grassroots leadership structure. In that backdrop, the party chose Adhikari, despite him being a relatively recent entrant.
Assam's Himanta Sarma model
Before Bengal, a similar political shift was visible in Assam through Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Sarma spent years in the Congress and served as a senior minister before leaving the party in 2015 after differences with former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi.
After joining the BJP, Sarma became central to the party's rise in Assam. Though the BJP formed its first government in the state in 2016 under Sarbananda Sonowal, Sarma was elevated as chief minister after the party returned to power in 2021.
Similar patterns across Northeast and Bihar
The BJP followed a comparable strategy in several northeastern states.
Pema Khandu moved from the Congress to the People's Party of Arunachal before eventually joining the BJP with a large group of MLAs in 2016. He continued as chief minister after the switch.
In Manipur, former Congress leader N Biren Singh joined the BJP in 2016 and became chief minister after the party formed the government in 2017.
Manik Saha, who earlier belonged to the Congress, switched to the BJP in 2016 and later became Tripura chief minister in 2022.
In Bihar, Samrat Choudhary also represents this trend. Before joining the BJP in 2017, he had been associated with both the RJD and JD(U).
Also Read | Is Nishant Kumar finally entering Bihar politics with NDA Cabinet expansion? Here's what we know
His appointment is also linked to caste calculations in Bihar politics, where the BJP has been trying to strengthen its support among Other Backward Classes, particularly the Kushwaha/Koeri community to which Choudhary belongs.
Across states, the BJP's approach has reflected a broader political strategy; combining organisational expansion with the influence of established regional leaders who already command strong voter bases.
