Dilip Ghosh, the boss of the BJP’s Bengal unit, has been replaced two days after BJP MP Babul Supriyo joined the Trinamool. Ghosh is known for frequent controversial comments.
In a broader reorganization of the party’s leadership, the 57-year-old has been appointed as a national Vice President. Sukanta Majumdar, the BJP’s MP from Balurghat in north Bengal, has been asked to take over as Bengal unit chief.
The Bengal BJP reshuffle comes just two days after the party’s Asansol MP, Babul Supriyo, switched sides.
Four MLAs have already returned to Trinamool since the Bengal Assembly elections earlier this year, in which the BJP had targeted 200 seats but received only 77.
Dr. Majumdar, a Botany professor who rose through the ranks of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), stated, “Dilip Ghosh has steered the BJP to its current position as a strong opposition party in Bengal.” He has made an important contribution to its expansion. From there, I hope to move the party forward.
Dr. Majumdar has been congratulated by Dilip Ghosh.
Mr. JP Nadda called this afternoon and informed me that I would be promoted to the national stage. This, I believe, is a recognition of my efforts and contributions. I also stated that the BJP leadership in Bengal requires parivartan in order to meet the new demands of society and the party.”
However, Mr. Supriyo, who joined Trinamool on Saturday, publicly stated that Dilip Ghosh, who is known for making outrageous and controversial statements, was to blame for the BJP’s election failure.
Mr. Supriyo, a Union Minister until recently who ran unsuccessfully in the state elections and was then benched from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, was the most recent high-profile defection.
Before him, three MLAs – Biswajit Das, Tanmoy Ghosh, and Soumen Roy – defected to the Trinamool in the last six days.
Previously, Mukul Roy, a former Trinamool strategist who joined the BJP in 2017 and won the Krishnanagar Uttar Assembly seat in April, returned to mothership Trinamool in June.