Kolkata: Ahead of the assembly elections in Bengal, state BJP carried out a major reshuffle on Wednesday, forging a mix between veterans and newcomers and striking a balance between organisational responsibilities and electoral leadership.
The party brass also tried to contain internal rivalries through a careful organisational reset.
Former state unit chief Dilip Ghosh, however, has been kept out of the state committee. Among the other prominent faces not included in the panel are Priyanka Tibrewal and MLA Ashok Dinda.
The 35-member state committee saw significant inclusions such as Saumitra Khan, Bapi Goswami and Shashi Agnihotri, all of whom have been appointed general secretaries.
Khan, who quit TMC to join BJP in 2019, remained a party loyalist despite not being given any major responsibility so far. Goswami, once close to former Bengal BJP president Rahul Sinha, was president of the Jalpaiguri district unit of the party. Agnihotri is a former general secretary of Mahila Morcha.
Locket Chatterjee and Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato have been retained as general secretaries.
Agnimitra Paul, Jagannath Chattopadhyay and Deepak Barman have been appointed as state unit vice-presidents in the reshuffle. "Almost all vice-presidents are likely to contest in the elections. General secretaries are usually not nominated for polls. The party tried to strike a balance through a careful selection of netas who have been given organisational responsibilities and who are likely to be nominated for polls. Besides, the old cadre base has been rehabilitated," a Bengal BJP neta said.
Raju Banerjee remains vice-president. Former Union ministers Debasree Chaudhuri and Nisith Pramanik have been appointed as vice-presidents. The others named vice-presidents are Manoj Tigga, Amitabh Roy, Tanuja Chakraborty and Prabal Raha. Chakraborty, a key Mahila Morcha neta, had been sidelined for a long time. Raha is known for his organisational skills.
The surprise factor for many is the inclusion of former TMC MLA Tapas Roy, who joined BJP a year back, on the list of 12 vice-presidents.
Indranil Khan will continue to lead Bengal BJP's youth front and Falguni Patra has been retained as president of the women's front. Veteran neta Ali Hossain, who is close to RSS, has been made in-charge of Minority Morcha, replacing Charles Nandi. Rajib Bhowmik will head farmers' front, Subhendu Sarkar will look after OBC front and Khagen Murmu will be responsible for the ST front.