The murder of BJP heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari’s close aide Chandranath Rath in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas has sharply escalated post-election tensions in a state navigating a charged up political atmosphere as power transitions after 15 long years.
Rath, a former Indian Air Force (IAF) officer who went on to become one of Adhikari’s most-trusted political associates, was shot dead on the night of March 6 in Madhyamgram’s Doltala area while returning home from Kolkata.
Police accounts suggest assailants intercepted Rath’s vehicle near the Doharia junction around 10.30 pm. Investigators said a four-wheeler first blocked Rath’s car before one of the attackers approached him on a motorcycle and fired at close range. After the shooting, the occupants of the four-wheeler fled on the motorcycle.
Rath suffered multiple bullet injuries. He was wheeled in dead at a nearby private hospital. “The victim was brought dead with two bullet injuries to his chest, which had pierced his heart. Another bullet had hit his abdominal area. There was no opportunity to resuscitate him,” said a doctor at the hospital.
Police recovered empty cartridges and live ammunition from the shooting site. State director general of police Siddh Nath Gupta said investigators had seized the vehicle suspected to have been used in the attack. “The registration number of the vehicle appears to be from the Siliguri Regional Transport Office, but our initial impression is that the number plate may have been tampered with,” Gupta said.
The police are examining CCTV footage from nearby areas and suspect that multiple motorcycle-borne assailants may have been part of what they described as a coordinated attack.
While street tensions have been simmering in Bengal since the declaration of election results, Rath’s proximity to Adhikari—the face of the BJP’s victorious campaign—threatened to immediately give the murder political colour. Emotional scenes erupted outside the hospital as BJP workers, leaders and supporters gathered through the night, raising slogans against the outgoing ruling party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), and demanding immediate arrests. Senior BJP leaders, including Adhikari, reached the hospital.
BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya described the killing as a “planned and targeted attack”. “This wasn’t unexpected. We do not know how much further the TMC’s culture of violence will stoop. This is evidence of the total criminalisation of politics now prevailing in Bengal. This was a planned and targeted attack. By killing the PA (personal assistant) of the outgoing leader of the Opposition, the assailants wanted to deliver a political message,” he alleged.
Bhattacharya claimed the killing reflected the deteriorating political climate of Bengal after elections. “People should take to the streets to protest against this and stop this never-ending violence. We will take firm steps in accordance with the law after our government assumes power,” he declared.
BJP MLA-elect Kaustav Bagchi also termed Rath’s death as a targeted political attack. “The assailants followed Rath’s car for a long time before pumping in bullets. We will not rest until the criminals are identified. We will not cremate the body until then,” he said.
Rath’s mother, Hasirani Rath, directly blamed the TMC and linked the killing to the BJP’s election victory in the state and Adhikari defeating TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur. “I want the guilty to be punished. [But] I am a mother; I do not want them to be hanged. I want life imprisonment for them. They did this because the BJP came to power,” she said.
Referring to remarks allegedly made by TMC leaders before the poll results, she added: “Those from the ruling party were making various provocative comments; they were saying that after May 4 (results day), the fathers of Delhi will not be able to save us. So, after May 4, they showed it.”
The TMC decried Rath’s killing and demanded a court-monitored probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation. In a statement, the party said it “strongly condemns the brutal murder of Chandranath Rath” and alleged that BJP-backed miscreants were involved in incidents of post-poll violence targeting TMC workers in several districts.
Neighbours and acquaintances described Rath as a disciplined and soft-spoken man with no known personal enmity. Although not a public face in Bengal politics, Rath was regarded within party circles as one of Adhikari’s most dependable backroom organisers. A native of Chandipur in Purba Medinipur district, he shared longstanding personal and political ties with Adhikari—himself a former TMC veteran—dating back to the early expansion of Mamata’s party in the district.
Before entering active politics, Rath had served in the IAF for nearly two decades. After voluntary retirement, he briefly worked in the corporate sector before gradually moving into organisational and political coordination work. His school education was at an institution of the Rahara Ramakrishna Mission. People close to him said Rath had once considered pursuing a spiritual life, and remained deeply influenced by the Ramakrishna Mission’s ethos.
Rath formally joined Adhikari’s core political team around 2019 when Adhikari was a minister in the Mamata government. Entrusted with office coordination and administrative responsibilities, he continued in a similar role after Adhikari switched to the BJP in 2020.
Over time, Rath emerged as a key organisational figure in the Adhikari camp. BJP insiders said he managed sensitive political assignments, coordinated logistics during election campaigns and maintained communication with party workers across districts. He was actively involved in several high-profile political battles, including the BJP’s Bhabanipur election campaign this year.
On April 30, just days before the counting of votes, Rath had led a BJP protest outside the Bhabanipur counting centre in Shakhawat Memorial High School even as Mamata was visiting the strongroom. In Adhikari’s absence, Rath had confronted police personnel, alleging that a TMC campaign vehicle was illegally parked near the counting centre. The vehicle was removed following the intervention of police and central forces.
There had been speculation within sections of the BJP that Rath could be given a larger organisational or administrative role if Adhikari assumed greater responsibilities after elections. Those discussions have met with an abrupt end.
As forensic teams collect evidence and investigators reconstruct the crime using surveillance footage, police said they were also examining whether Rath was specifically targeted because of his proximity to Adhikari or if the killing was part of a wider political conspiracy in the volatile post-election environment in Bengal.
The BJP says it has already lost three workers, including Rath, to the violence. The TMC has made similar allegations of its workers being made victims of vendetta. In the midst of all this, Rath’s killing looms large over the political horizon.
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