Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari’s aide Chandranath Rath was shot dead in the North 24 Parganas district on Wednesday amid post-poll violence in West Bengal, The Indian Express reported.
Rath was travelling in a car to his home in Barasat when assailants, who were on motorbikes, intercepted the vehicle in the Madhyamgram area near Kolkata at about 10.20 pm. One of the suspects reportedly approached the car and fired three rounds at close range, the newspaper quoted unidentified officials as saying.
After the election results were declared, widespread political violence, and instances of alleged communal intimidation and vandalism have been reported in West Bengal.
Rath, who was seated beside the driver, sustained several bullet injuries and was declared dead after being taken to hospital.
His driver, Buddhadeb, was seriously injured in the attack and was also taken to hospital.
The police said that an investigation had been launched and security camera footage was being examined.
The incident was a “planned murder”, The Indian Express quoted an unidentified senior police officer as having alleged. “Because after he shot Rath, the killer waited for him to die,” the officer told the newspaper.
#WATCH | North 24 Parganas, West Bengal | Forensic team investigates the vehicle in which BJP Leader Suvendu Adhikari's PA Chandra was shot dead near Madhyamgram. pic.twitter.com/gdenXBk0o0
— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2026 Rath had worked with Adhikari for several years and handled political coordination and organisational work. He had reportedly been associated with the BJP leader since 2018 and later became his executive assistant after Adhikari became Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal.
Adhikari, who was not with Rath at the time of the attack, alleged that it was a “pre-planned murder”, PTI reported.
He added that the BJP will “clean up all ‘goons’” once the party forms the government.
BJP state chief Samik Bhattacharya said that the killing “was expected” and a “very unfortunate incident”, The Indian Express reported.
Bhattacharya added: “Killing the Leader of Opposition’s PA is a message. Let the people decide. We will take legal steps.”
The Trinamool Congress condemned Rath’s killing and expressed grief over the deaths of party workers in separate incidents of violence across the state.
In a social media post, the party alleged that “BJP-backed miscreants” had been involved in post-poll unrest and called for a court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the killing of Rath.
“Violence and political killings have no place in a democracy and the guilty must be held accountable at the earliest,” the TMC said.
The BJP defeated the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC in the Assembly polls on Monday, ending its 15-year rule in the state. The Hindutva party won 207 seats in the 294-member Assembly.
Adhikari defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Bhabanipur constituency by over 15,000 votes.
Post-poll violence in Bengal
On Monday, several offices of the TMC were attacked and vandalised. There had been two deaths before Rath was shot dead, the police said.
On Tuesday, several structures, including a TMC office, were vandalised by a mob carrying flags of the BJP in the New Market area of Kolkata. Videos widely shared on social media showed the group using a bulldozer to raze a structure.
TMC’s Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien claimed that the bulldozer had been “brought in to demolish meat shops” as part of the BJP’s “victory celebration”. The central forces were “standing around”, he claimed on social media.
While it is unclear what triggered the act of vandalism and the sequence of events, the TMC accused the BJP leadership of enabling the violence.
Director General of Police Siddh Nath Gupta on Wednesday said that more than 200 first information reports had been filed and 433 persons had been arrested in specific cases of violence, ANI reported.
More than 1,100 persons had also been arrested under preventive sections, Gupta added.
On Tuesday, the BJP claimed that the incidents of vandalism were the result of internal rifts within the TMC, and that some of those carrying out violence were using the Hindutva party’s flags.
However, Bhattacharya had told ANI that if any BJP workers engage in vandalism, the party would be compelled to expel them.
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