A FESTIVAL VISIT, A POLITICAL SIGNAL? SUVENDU ADHIKARI’S LAKSHMI PUJA APPEARANCE AT SUDIP BANDOPADHYAY’S HOME SETS OFF BENGAL’S POLITICAL RUMOUR MILL

October 25, 2026

KOLKATA, OCTOBER 25, 2026 — A seemingly routine festive visit has triggered fresh political speculation in West Bengal, with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s appearance at the residence of Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) leader and MP Sudip Bandopadhyay during Kojagari Lakshmi Puja drawing attention to the changing relationships between the state’s principal political forces. Although Adhikari described the visit as a personal courtesy call, its timing, the political positions of the two leaders and the approaching civic elections have ensured that the meeting is being viewed through a wider political lens.

Adhikari visited Bandopadhyay’s residence in the Janbazar area of central Kolkata on Sunday to attend the household Lakshmi Puja. Speaking to reporters, the chief minister said Bandopadhyay had invited him to the annual celebration approximately a month earlier. He described his appearance as an act of courtesy, saying he had offered prayers and eaten naru, a traditional sweet made with coconut and jaggery or sugar.

The chief minister rejected suggestions that the visit should be interpreted as a formal political meeting. Nevertheless, the encounter has attracted attention because Bandopadhyay, once a prominent figure in the Trinamool Congress, now belongs to the NCPI, which has aligned itself with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre. The political journey of Bandopadhyay and other former Trinamool MPs has altered the balance of political relationships in West Bengal and raised questions about the future of the state's opposition landscape.

Adhikari also used the occasion to take a swipe at former chief minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, pointing out that she had not attended the Lakshmi Puja celebrations at Bandopadhyay’s residence in previous years. The remark added a political edge to an event that the chief minister otherwise insisted was non-political.

Referring to Bandopadhyay’s current political alignment, Adhikari noted that the NCPI leader was now an NDA partner and had attended a breakfast meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He argued that accepting an invitation from a political leader who was cooperating with the Union government should not itself invite suspicion. His comments appeared intended to frame the visit as a normal interaction between public representatives rather than evidence of a new electoral arrangement.

Bandopadhyay, for his part, emphasised his party’s position within the NDA, describing the NCPI as the alliance’s second-largest partner. His presence alongside Adhikari offered a public image of cordiality between the West Bengal government and a parliamentary group that had previously been associated with the Trinamool Congress. However, neither leader announced a new political agreement during the visit.

The meeting has nevertheless drawn attention because of the wider uncertainty surrounding the NCPI’s future relationship with the BJP. The party includes 20 Lok Sabha MPs who left the Trinamool Congress earlier this year and subsequently joined the NCPI before extending support to the NDA government. Their departure weakened the Trinamool Congress’s parliamentary contingent and created a new political configuration at the national level.

The realignment has also produced an ongoing legal and parliamentary dispute. The Trinamool Congress has approached Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking action against the breakaway MPs, including demands for their disqualification under the anti-defection law. The eventual outcome could have significant implications for the parliamentary standing of the group and the future of its relationship with the BJP-led alliance.

Against this background, Adhikari’s visit to Bandopadhyay’s home carries political significance beyond the immediate occasion. The chief minister has been involved in efforts to coordinate with the breakaway MPs, including discussions concerning constituency development and the concerns of party workers. The latest encounter may reinforce the public impression that communication between the West Bengal government and the NCPI leadership is becoming increasingly routine.

However, the visit does not establish that the BJP and NCPI have agreed to a formal electoral alliance in West Bengal. Nor does it demonstrate that a merger between the two parties is imminent. The distinction between cooperation within a national alliance and a formal arrangement for state-level elections remains important, particularly as political speculation intensifies ahead of civic polls.

The prospect of cooperation between the BJP and NCPI has attracted interest because municipal elections could test the parties’ organisational strength, local support and capacity to coordinate their political strategies. A common approach could potentially influence candidate selection, campaign arrangements and the distribution of political influence in particular constituencies. Yet any such arrangement would require decisions by the parties’ leaderships, and no formal agreement was announced during Sunday’s visit.

The Trinamool Congress has interpreted the developing relationship differently. Senior party MP Sougata Roy suggested that Bandopadhyay was moving closer to the BJP and argued that the invitation had helped him save face politically. His remarks reflected the continuing bitterness surrounding the departure of former Trinamool MPs and the resulting dispute over their political loyalties.

The contrasting interpretations reveal the broader contest over how the NCPI’s realignment should be understood. For Adhikari, the visit was a courtesy call to honour a longstanding invitation. For the Trinamool Congress, it was another indication of Bandopadhyay’s changing political proximity. For observers of West Bengal politics, it was an opportunity to assess whether the parliamentary realignment at the Centre might eventually translate into more structured cooperation within the state.

The episode also highlights the increasingly fluid nature of political relationships in West Bengal. Longstanding party associations have been disrupted by defections, changes in parliamentary alignment and efforts to build new channels of cooperation. The movement of former Trinamool MPs into the NCPI has created a political bloc whose future direction could affect both national parliamentary arithmetic and state-level electoral calculations.

At the same time, personal interactions between politicians should not automatically be treated as evidence of a secret deal. Festivals and religious celebrations often provide occasions for leaders across political divides to meet, maintain relationships and participate in social traditions. The political importance of such encounters depends on what follows: whether they lead to policy coordination, formal agreements, electoral cooperation or further organisational changes.

For now, Adhikari and Bandopadhyay have offered a public explanation centred on courtesy and the observance of Lakshmi Puja. Their meeting has not produced an announced agreement, but it has renewed attention to the changing alignments surrounding the NCPI and the BJP. With civic elections approaching and the legal dispute over the breakaway MPs still unresolved, even a festive visit has become part of the larger political conversation.

The significance of Sunday’s encounter may ultimately depend less on the prayers offered or the sweets shared than on whether the cordiality displayed in Janbazar develops into a more durable political arrangement. Until the parties make their intentions explicit, speculation over an electoral understanding must remain just that: speculation. What is clear is that West Bengal’s political landscape continues to evolve, and the relationship between Adhikari’s BJP government and Bandopadhyay’s NCPI will remain a subject of close attention in the months ahead.