Former West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Dilip Ghosh’s absence from key party events, including the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, has sparked speculation among the party’s rank and file.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Former West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Dilip Ghosh’s absence from key party events, including the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, has sparked speculation among the party’s rank and file.

On June 1, Mr. Shah held a Vijay Sankalp Karyakarta Sammelan at Kolkata’s Netaji Indoor Stadium, where leaders from the party’s organisation across the State were present. Mr. Ghosh, considered the most successful of BJP leaders in the State, was conspicuous by his absence.

This was the second time in less than a week that the former MP was absent from a programme of a top BJP leader. The other instance was the public meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Alipurduar in north Bengal on May 29.

“I was not invited, so I did not go. My name was not there in the list. Those who were invited to the event, they went. Those who are giving leadership to the party must have taken the decision (of extending invitations),” Mr. Ghosh told journalists on Monday.

Mr. Ghosh said that in an “organisational meeting”, if someone was not invited, then it was not proper for him to attend the meeting. He pointed out that a number of former State unit presidents were also not invited to the recent events.

However, speculation about a rift between Mr. Ghosh and the State BJP leadership has gained ground in political circles over the past few months.

On April 30, Mr. Ghosh, along with his MP, met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the inauguration of the newly built Jagannath Temple in Digha. Several BJP leaders have been accusing him of cosying up to the Trinamool Congress supremo and betraying the sentiments of the party workers.

Track record

Mr. Ghosh has been considered as the most successful party president in the State, and under his leadership, the party won 18 of the 42 Lok sabha seats in the State in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Mr. Ghosh was replaced by Sukanta Majumdar as West Bengal BJP president in 2021. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Ghosh lost to Trinamool Congress candidate and former BJP leader Kirti Azad from the Burdwan-Durgapur Lok Sabha constituency. The party had decided to replace him from the Midnapore Lok Sabha seat, which he had won in 2019.

Mr. Ghosh’s absence at key BJP events indicates that the party’s West Bengal unit is a divided house. It is yet to elect a new president who will take on the Trinamool Congress before the 2026 Assembly polls.