AdvertisementIndiaAsiaSouth AsiaBJP aide shot dead in India’s West Bengal days after historic election win
Chandranath Rath was a close aide to Suvendu Adhikari, the West Bengal BJP chief tipped to become the next state chief minister
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenAgence France-PressePublished: 1:47pm, 7 May 2026Gunmen on motorbikes in India’s West Bengal ambushed and killed a political aide from the ruling Hindu-nationalist party days after it swept state elections, police said on Thursday.Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a resounding victory on Monday in the eastern state of more than 100 million people, taking 207 of the 294 assembly seats, for its first-ever state victory in West Bengal.
Chandranath Rath, 41, a close aide of West Bengal’s BJP chief Suvendu Adhikari, was shot dead late on Wednesday near his home in Kolkata.
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Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, now tipped to become the state chief minister, called it “cold-blooded murder”.
Suvendu Adhikari (right) meets people during a campaign rally in Kolkata on April 22. Photo: AP
Motorbikes blocked Rath’s vehicle, before the attackers opened fire in a barrage of around a dozen shots, hitting him multiple times in the heart.
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