Suvendu Adhikari elected as Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari has been elected as the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. Adhikari won the elections from Nandigram Assembly seat, defeating Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee by more than 1,900 votes.
A TMC turncoat, Adhikari joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in December last year. While Adhikari bagged 1,10,764 votes, Banerjee, his one time mentor, managed 1,08808 votes in Nandigram. Adhikari, the face of the Nandigram movement that added to the political heft of Mamata Banerjee and catapulted her to power in Bengal in 2011, earned a reputation as a 'giant slayer' by defeating Banerjee in Nandigram.
A PTI report said that Adhikari was unanimously elected as Leader of Opposition in the new West Bengal Assembly to take on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the House. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced Adhikari's name as leader of the BJP legislature party in the assembly after a meeting of the legislators at the party's Hastings office.
The saffron party has emerged as the main opposition party winning 77 seats in the 294-member house.
READ MORE: BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari wins Nandigram battle
