West Bengal CM contender & BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s personal assistant shot dead near Kolkata

Bengal cops tell ThePrint that according to preliminary info, Chandranath Rath suffered 3 gunshot wounds including one in the head. TMC says 'guilty must be held accountable'.

The vehicle belonging to Chandra Nath Dutt (inset), personal assistant to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari (left) after he was shot dead at Madhyamgram, in North 24 Parganas on Wednesday | Source: By special arrangement/ANI

New Delhi: West Bengal BJP leader and top chief ministerial contender Suvendu Adhikari’s personal assistant was shot dead by unknown assailants in the Madhyamgram area near Kolkata late Wednesday evening. Tension has gripped the area since, at a time when there have already been reports of violence following an election where BJP dislodged the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government after 15 years in power.

Chandranath Rath was a long-term associate of Adhikari, who defeated outgoing CM Mamata by over 15,000 votes in her political citadel Bhabanipur.

Senior West Bengal Police officers confirmed to ThePrint that Rath was shot at while on his way to his residence, within the jurisdiction of the Madhyamgram police station in the Barasat police district.

Adhikari was not with him at the time.

The vehicle belonging to Chandra Nath Dutt, personal assistant to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari after he was shot dead at Madhyamgram, in North 24 Parganas on Wednesday | ANI

“Assailants, suspected to be in another car, came alongside and fired several rounds,” a West Bengal Police officer said. “Preliminarily, he suffered three bullet injuries, including one in the head.”

‘We strongly condemn brutal murder’: TMC

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) released a statement on X Wednesday night, which said: “We strongly condemn the brutal murder of Chandranath Rath in Madhyamgram tonight, along with the killing of three other TMC workers in incidents of post-poll violence allegedly carried out by BJP-backed miscreants over the last three days, despite the Model Code of Conduct being in force.”

It added: “We demand the strongest possible action in this matter, including a court-monitored CBI investigation so that those responsible are identified and brought to justice without delay. Violence and political killings have no place in a democracy and the guilty must be held accountable at the earliest.”

We strongly condemn the brutal murder of Chandranath Rath in Madhyamgram tonight, along with the killing of three other TMC workers in incidents of post-poll violence allegedly carried out by BJP-backed miscreants over the last three days, despite the Model Code of Conduct being…

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) May 6, 2026

(Edited by Gitanjali Das)