Is Suvendu Adhikari BJP's Chief Minister Face In Bengal? What He Told NDTV

Suvendu Adhikari, former aide of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and now the face of the BJP in Bengal, is seen by many as the party's Chief Ministerial candidate. The BJP is yet to make an announcement, but many within and outside the party consider it a mere formality in case they comes to power in Bengal. The leader, though, projected indifference on the subject today, telling NDTV's CEO and Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal that he is "not interested".

"I am not interested... I am not interested in these questions. Modi ji, Central leadership... they will pick a Bengali, (so) no problem," he said in an exclusive interview in "Walk the Talk". 

"I am supporting the party's election management. I do what I am told to do. Go where I am asked to go... And my leader, from whose hand I have taken the baton, Amit Shah ji, I am in frequent touch with him. He is also giving me some work," he added.

Adhikari had turned against Mamata Banerjee ahead of the 2021 assembly election and contested from Nandigram, beating her by a narrow margin. 

Read: Jobs, Clean Governance: Suvendu Adhikari On What BJP Will Deliver In Bengal

This time, he has filed nomination from both Nandigram and Bhabanipur - the latter  a stronghold of the Chief Minister from where she was elected six times to both upper and lower houses of parliament.

While it is not known yet whether the posh south Kolkata area would want a change, the BJP move to pitch him has enhanced Adhikari's stature within the party.

Asked why he has taken up such a huge challenge, battling Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipore where she won by 56,000 votes, he said: "You watch what happens now... This morning I had walked three kilometers in Bhabanipore. You saw the people's response to the party... I will manage. Once the hooliganism stops and the election SOP is implemented, Bhabanipore will also become Nandigram".