Kolkata, Sep 25 Ahead of the municipal election in West Bengal, the West Bengal BJP on Friday announced a major organisational overhaul in its state wing, appointing fresh faces across the organisation, from its Mahila, Yuva and OBC morchas to organisational district presidents and state secretaries.
The changes were made in line with the ‘one individual, one post’ principle and as many as six ministers – Tapas Roy, Jagannath Chattopadhyay, Agnimitra Paul, Dipak Burman, Shankar Ghosh and Indranil Khan – were relieved of their respective organisational responsibilities in favour of their administrative commitments, as per BJP notifications.
While Roy, Chattopadhyay, Paul and Burman earlier served as state vice presidents of the party, Ghosh had held the position of state secretary.
The civic body polls across seven municipal corporations – including Kolkata and Howrah – are likely to take place in November-end, according to sources in the State Election Commission.
Among the key appointments announced on Friday, actor-cum-politician Anjana Basu was named as the new state president of the BJP Mahila Morcha, replacing Phalguni Patra who has been appointed state vice president of the party.
A familiar face on Bengali television, Basu joined the BJP ahead of the 2021 assembly elections. Following the party’s defeat in that poll, speculations were rife that she had “grown distant” from the party. That buzz was, however, put to rest with her subsequent increased activity within BJP’s circles, indicating her growing importance within the party.
A few months ago, she was appointed a member of the advisory panel of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and, more recently, also appointed president of the governing body of a college in Kolkata.
The party’s Jadavpur MLA, Sharbari Mukherjee – who has hogged the media spotlight in recent times on account of her “controversial” comments in connection with the unrest at the Jadavpur University campus – was, interestingly, removed from her position as one of the state secretaries despite her not holding a portfolio in Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s council of ministers.
The party’s Amta MLA Amit Samanta replaced Behala West leader and Sports and Youth Services minister Indranil Khan as president of the BJP Yuva Morcha.
Khan was a long-standing leader of the party’s youth wing and gave way to Samanta, who earlier functioned as the general secretary of the morcha.
Locket Chatterjee and Bishnupur MP Soumitra Khan were appointed state general secretaries, while Darjeeling MP Raju Bista was made vice-president. Chatterjee, a former MP, has been relieved of her responsibilities in the party’s Mahila Morcha.
While a reshuffle was brought about in the posts of presidents across the party’s seven organisational districts — Barasat, Bongaon, Serampore, Arambagh, Medinipur, Burdwan and Katwa – changes were also announced across the positions of presidents in the party’s Yuva, Mahila, OBC and SC morchas.
The party named two MPs – Jyotirmay Singh Mahato and Soumitra Khan – as state general secretaries, MLA Sanjay Singh as state vice president and MLAs Dipanjan Guha and Sintu Senapati as state secretaries.
Anal Biswas, considered a close associate of party’s state president Samik Bhattacharya, and Sanjay Varma, perceived to be proximate to actor and former BJP Rajya Sabha member Mithun Chakraborty, were also named state secretaries.
The party also named fresh convenors in nine Bibhags (branches) – Siliguri, Malda, North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah-Hooghly, Medinipur, Purulia, Bardhaman and Nabadwip – across the state.
The process of announcing new organisational committees in the BJP’s state wing began in phases after Samik Bhattacharya was named its president in July 2025.
Initially, lists of office-bearers, including state vice-presidents, general secretaries and secretaries, were released. Shortly after the elections, in May 2026, the state executive committee was announced.
Subsequently, responsibilities for the media, social media and information technology departments were assigned. A new list of spokespersons was also declared.
On Thursday, the decision to reappoint Amitabh Chakraborty as state general secretary (organisation) was announced. On Friday, changes were also made to the top posts of key affiliated organisations.
Those who had been appointed office-bearers in the committees announced before the elections but subsequently became ministers have now been relieved of their organisational responsibilities. The long-discussed possibility of changes at the district level has also been largely addressed by means of the latest announcement, observers said.
(PTI News)
