BJP holds meet to pick generals for 2026 assembly polls
Times of India | 17 March 2025
12 Kolkata: Bengal BJP seniors held on Sunday a core committee meeting to elect organisational district presidents and chart the way ahead before the next state president is elected — probably by the end of March. The new organisation will lead the party in the 2026 Bengal assembly polls.
State netas met Bengal BJP minder Sunil Bansal to discuss the names of the presidents in 18 organisational districts. The party, which has been trying to end the ‘new and old' divide, has tried to include many veteran faces this time. This comes after Bansal spoke in Jan of unifying BJP before the assembly polls. The differences between factions were apparent even when the party conducted its membership drive last year. Bansal and another minder, Mangal Pandey, sent a note of caution to the state unit seniors, asking them to put an end to such feuds.
On Friday, BJP had announced presidents for 25 organisational districts. "Most of the district presidents elected this time have been party members for more than a decade. They are well aware of the ideology of the party," Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said.
Notes of dissent, however, have been sounded in districts like Jalpaiguri and Basirhat.
Former Jalpaiguri vice-president Alok Chakraborty said Bengal BJP was "restricted to social media and television". "Only three hours were given to workers for the submission of nominations. It seems that no democratic process is being maintained," Chakraborty said after Shyamal Roy was elected as the district president, replacing Bapi Goswami.
In Basirhat, a section of BJP workers staged a protest in Kacharipara after Sukalyan Baidya was chosen as the new district president.
"Any party is made up of old and new workers — not only new or only veterans. There has to be a right mix of them," Majumdar said on Sunday. "If there is anguish among BJP workers, they should come and tell us. There are some agitations instigated by local Trinamool netas. There are one or two such incidents... nothing major," he added.