The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appointed Shamik Bhattacharya as the new president of its West Bengal unit after he emerged as the sole nominee for the post on Wednesday.
The central leadership officially announced his name by evening, making him the successor to Sukanta Majumdar. Bhattacharya, 61, a veteran politician and former RSS pracharak, filed his nomination earlier in the day in the presence of senior BJP leaders, including outgoing president Majumdar and Leader of Opposition in Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari.
No other contender filed nomination papers before the deadline, party sources confirmed. The nomination process was conducted between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., followed by scrutiny and name withdrawal of candidature. With Bhattacharya being the only candidate in the fray, party insiders say the central BJP has given its nod, clearing the path for a formal declaration of his appointment. Bhattacharya, a former MLA from Basirhat South, first entered the state Assembly through a bypoll in 2014 but lost in the 2016 general elections. He has long been associated with the Sangh Parivar, joining the RSS in 1971 and later affiliating with the Bharatiya Jan Sangh.
Over his four-decade-long political career, he has seen the rise and fall of multiple BJP state presidents—from Haripada Bharati and Tapan Sikdar to Dilip Ghosh and Sukanta Majumdar.
Speaking to reporters after filing his nomination, Bhattacharya said: “I have submitted my papers for the post of state president. I usually remain behind the backdrop—the backdrop is always taller than me.” Party observers see his nomination as a strategic move by the RSS-backed faction within the BJP, signalling a course correction ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal.
While Bhattacharya did not find a place in the party’s core committee in 2022, the leadership’s renewed trust in him suggests a shift towards experience and ideological grounding. In addition to West Bengal, BJP also elected new state presidents in eight other states on Tuesday, including Madhya Pradesh, where Hemant Khandelwal was named chief after being the lone nominee. Bhattacharya’s anticipated elevation is expected to mark a new phase in the Bengal BJP’s leadership trajectory, one that began with the appointment of its first state president in 1980 and has seen prominent names like Vishnukant Shastri, Asim Ghosh, Tathagata Roy, Rahul Sinha, and Majumdar.
With the 2026 elections in sight, the BJP seems to be placing its bets on Bhattacharya’s deep organisational roots and long-standing ideological commitment to galvanise the party’s prospects in a state it has been struggling to consolidate in recent years.