BJP Bengal unit rejigged, Bose kin out
■ BJP revamps Bengal unit
Ahead of the Assembly polls in West Bengal, the BJP on Monday reconstituted its state unit, adding many new faces, including former TMC leaders like Saumitra Khan and Arjun Singh, but Subhash Chandra Bose’s grand-nephew Chandra Kant Bose’s name was missing. Mr Bose, who had questioned the Modi government over the amended Citizenship Act, was the vice-president in the previous team and had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Kolkata South. In January, Dilip Ghosh was re-elected as the president of the state unit.
Ahead of the crucial assembly polls in West Bengal, the BJP on Monday reconstituted its state unit, with many new faces, including former TMC leaders like Saumitra Khan and Arjun Singh, being accommodated but Subhash Chandra Bose’s grand-nephew Chandra Kumar Bose’s name was missing. Mr Bose, who had questioned the Modi government over the amended Citizenship Act, was the vice-president in the previous team and had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Kolkata South seat. Earlier in January, Dilip Ghosh was re-elected as the president of the state unit.
The party’s state unit now has 12 vice-presidents, five general secretaries and ten secretaries. Vice-Presidents include Subhash Sarkar, Bishwapriya Raichaudhury, Pratap Banerjee, Rajkamal Pathak, Bapi Mitra, Ritesh Tiwari, Jay Prakash Mazumdar, Arjun Singh, Anindya Banerjee, Dipen Pramanik, Bharati Ghosh and Mafuza Khatoon. The party appointed Sayantan Basu, Locket Chatterjee, Jyotirmoy Mahato, Sanjay Singh and Rathindranth Basu as
general secretaries. Fashion designer Agnimitra Paul has been given the charge of Mahila Morcha while Saumitra Khan will be heading the state’s youth wing.
While the assembly polls will take place early next year, the Covid-19 pandemic has become of the poll planks of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been highlighting the alleged failure of Mamata Banerjee led state government to contain the pandemic.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s electoral strength has been on a rise in the state since 2014 and the party organisational strength as well as support base has also significantly increased.
After the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, when the party won 18 of the total 42 parliamentary seats, many prominent TMC leaders joined the saffron fold