Armed attackers riding motorbikes ambushed and killed a political aide linked to the ruling party, just days after the party secured a major electoral win in India’s eastern state of West Bengal.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently won 207 of 294 seats in the West Bengal assembly, a state with over 100 million residents, marking its first major breakthrough in the region.
Chandranath Rath, 41, who was a close aide to the state BJP chief Suvendu Adhikari, was fatally shot late Wednesday near his residence in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal.
Describing the attack, Adhikari—leader of the opposition in the state assembly and a projected chief ministerial figure—called it a “cold-blooded murder”.
According to police accounts, motorbikes blocked Rath’s vehicle before the assailants opened fire, discharging roughly a dozen bullets that struck him multiple times in the chest.
“The shooting happened at about 11 pm (1730GMT) on Wednesday — the bikes that stopped Rath’s car have been seized,” said West Bengal police chief Siddh Nath Gupta. He added, “The bikes had fake registration numbers, and we are looking for the assailants.”
Medical staff at Apollo Hospital confirmed the severity of the attack. Pritam Sengupta, a doctor there, said Rath was “brought dead with multiple bullet injuries in his chest.”
The killing raises the death toll linked to post-election violence in the state to at least five since results were announced on Monday. West Bengal had been governed since 2011 by Mamata Banerjee, leader of the regional All India Trinamool Congress, who is a long-time rival of Modi and has rejected the election outcome.
Political analysts say the BJP’s victory in the Bengali-speaking state represents one of its most significant expansions beyond its traditional strongholds in northern and central India since Modi became prime minister in 2014.
Tensions have escalated sharply in the aftermath of the results, with both the BJP and the Trinamool Congress trading accusations over the violence. A BJP statement said, “It was a planned murder.” Party officials also added, “This is expected from Trinamool Congress,” alleging responsibility for the killing.
The Trinamool Congress rejected any involvement in the attack. In its response, the party said, “We strongly condemn the brutal murder of Chandranath Rath,” while also denouncing violence against its own members, “allegedly carried out by BJP-backed miscreants”.
The BJP has announced plans to swear in its state leadership as chief minister on Saturday, even as political tensions remain high following the latest wave of violence.
