The top chief ministerial candidate for West Bengal and the state's BJP leader, Suvendu Adhikari's personal assistant was shot dead by unknown assailants in the late hours of Wednesday night, on 6th April 2026. The incident happened in the Madhyamgram area near Kolkata, when the perpetrators arrived on a motorcycle and shot the PA, Chandranath Rath, at point-blank range before fleeing the crime scene. Adhikari's other aide, Buddadeb Bera, also sustained injuries.

Rath has been a part of the BJP leader's inner circle for over five years. As Rath was returning home late Wednesday night in a vehicle, he was waylaid by the assailants, who fired multiple rounds through the car’s windshield at him and Bera. Both were rushed to a nearby hospital, where Rath was declared dead upon arrival.

Police officials say that the incident took place around 10.20 pm, on the Jessore Road Stretch in Madhyamgram’s Doharia region. The crime site is just a mere 3km away from the NSCBI airport.

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

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Investigators said they were yet to ascertain the motive behind the attack on Rath and his colleague, and have not ruled out possibilities of either personal or political enmity.

The killing comes consequent to the widespread post-poll political violence that took hold in multiple regions of the state, prompting the BJP leadership to direct its cadres to restore calm on the ground.

The shocking incident took place just 48 hours after the BJP secured a massive mandate in West Bengal, winning 207 seats in the 294-member Assembly. Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who retained his Nandigram seat and defeated outgoing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur, has declared the killing to be "cold-blooded and pre-planned murder."

Speaking to ANI, the BJP leader said, "This is a pre-planned murder, and this is what the DGP said. A recce was done for two to three days, and a murder was fully planned. The police initiated an investigation. We are grieving and are at lack of words for condemning this incident. Our entire leadership from Delhi has taken information about this. Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar talked to the family (of the deceased) and the police. Various leaders and chosen MLAs have come here from their regions. The police have found some evidence, and they will investigate. This is the result of 15 years of Maha-Jungle Raj. BJP will start the cleansing work of the goons here."

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BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya has accused the Trinamool Congress of being the culprit behind the killing. "This was expected only from Trinamool. They are responsible for this death," he said.  Trinamool condemned the incident, calling for "a court-monitored CBI investigation" to ensure those responsible were "identified and brought to justice without delay".

Hours after the incident, the TMC posted a statement on X condemning the incident and urging for appropriate action against the perpetrators.

“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.”

The killing has turned out to be a political flashpoint moment, with the BJP alleging the now opposition party TMC of carrying out the attack to create a hostile environment post-election, a claim that the TMC has denied.

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