West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dilip Ghosh during the opening of Jagannath Temple in Digha, East Medinipur on Wednesday. |Picture source: ANI
Former West Bengal Balatia Janata (BJP) President Dilip Ghosh met with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at Digha Jagannath Temple on Wednesday (30 April 2025) and was criticized by his party leaders.
Hours after the temple was in office on Wednesday, former Medinipur MP arrived at the temple gate with his wife. Mr. Gosh was welcomed by Governor Aroop Biswas and later met the Chief Minister in the Temple Site.
BJP Governor Sukanta Majumdar said Dilip Ghosh’s visit did not endorse the party. “We have decided not to attend the inauguration. He (Mr. Gosh) has left as his own.”
The development marks speculation in the political world whether the BJP leaders are leaning towards Trinamool Congress. Defection from opposition parties to leaders of the ruling party has been popular over the past few years.
Mr. Gosh is considered 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 the 2019 Lok Sabha poll.
Mr Ghosh was replaced by Sukanta Majumdar in 2021 as President of West Bengal BJP. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Mr. Ghosh lost from the Burdwan-Durgapur Lok Sabha constitution to Trinamool Congress candidate and former BJP leader Kirti Azad. The party has decided to replace him from the Midnapore Lok Sabha seat that he won in 2019.
Reports of missing BJP leaders in the operation of the party have been surfaced over the past few years. The development is also when the West Bengal BJP is looking for a new president to lead the party in the 2026 Congress poll.
publishing – May 1, 2025 at 02:42 AM IST
