Suvendu Adhikari’s personal secretary, Chandranath Rath, was shot dead on Wednesday night by unknown assailants, who arrived in a vehicle and forced the car in which Adhikari’s personal secretary was travelling to slow down before spraying bullets at him from close range.
Who Was Chandranath Rath?
Chandranath Rath was known as Suvendu Adhikari’s “shadow”. The 41-year-old originally hailed from Chandipur in the Purba Medinipur district.
He completed his studies at Rahara Ramakrishna Mission, after which he joined the Indian Air Force (IAF), where he served for nearly two decades. Before joining politics, Rath had even considered a spiritual life, as he was deeply influenced by the ethos of the Ramakrishna Mission, his family members said, as reported by India TV.
In 2019, when Adhikari became the TMC minister for the Water Resources Department, Chandranath Rath became his personal secretary.
The very next year, Adhikari joined the BJP at a public rally in Medinipur in the presence of Amit Shah. Rath followed him.
After the 2021 Assembly elections, when Suvendu became the Leader of the Opposition, Rath’s area of operation became even wider. Following the saffron sweep in Bengal, with Suvendu expected to emerge as a leading contender for the post of the next Chief Minister of West Bengal, Rath was likely to receive another career upgrade within days.
Rath’s mother, Hasi Rath, had held a position in a local panchayat body in Purba Medinipur during the TMC years before shifting allegiance to the BJP along with Adhikari in 2020.
