NEW DELHI: BJP increasingly appears to favour leaders with strong regional roots and a hardline Hindutva orientation. Over the past five years, the rise of assertive regional figures has helped address concerns within the party over a possible future leadership vacuum in key states such as West Bengal and Bihar.
This trend arguably began with Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP projected a leader closely associated with aggressive Hindutva politics. Since then, the party has increasingly relied on figures such as Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra, Suvendu Adhikari in West Bengal, Samrat Choudhary in Bihar and Himanta Biswa Sarma in Assam.
Mohan Charan Majhi in Odisha and Samrat Choudhary are among the newer entrants to what observers describe as the BJP’s club of firebrand Hindutva politicians.
Party insiders regard Yogi Adityanath, Suvendu Adhikari and Himanta Biswa Sarma as uncompromising proponents of Hindutva politics, while Devendra Fadnavis has cultivated the image of a calm yet sharp strategist skilled in electoral management and negotiation.
In Bihar and West Bengal, leaders who once belonged to regional parties — namely the RJD and the TMC — are now being closely watched after joining BJP. In both states, frequently criticised for poor law and order and lack of development, BJP’s emerging regional leaders have sought to project themselves as tough administrators.
Drawing on their earlier political experience, they have moved aggressively against criminal networks to reinforce the perception of being uncompromising taskmasters. In Bihar, Samrat Choudhary warned criminals they would either flee or “face the music” under the law.
Attention is now focused on Suvendu Adhikari, who has politically challenged Mamata Banerjee in successive elections and adopted several hardline positions. Many within saffron political circles believe his role is not merely electoral but ideological—to transform Bengal into a new laboratory for Hindutva politics combined with development and stronger law and order.