The BJP’s central leadership on Monday (September 20) appointed Dr Sukanta Majumdar, the 41-year-old first-time MP from Balurghat as the chief of the party’s West Bengal unit, replacing Dilip Ghosh. The 57-year-old MP from Medinipur had been in the post for almost six years. The appointment of Majumdar is seen as an attempt by the party to strengthen its organisation in the state after the poor performance in the Assembly elections, which has been followed by a steady stream of defections of its leaders to Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress. Majumdar’s appointment came a day after the two-time BJP MP from Asansol and former union minister Babul Supriyo switched over to the TMC. Ghosh has been made a national vice-president of the BJP.
Sukanta Majumdar is an assistant professor of botany at the University of Gour Banga at Mokdumpur in Malda district. Majumdar was educated at the University of North Bengal in Siliguri, from where he obtained a PhD. His profile on the website of the Lok Sabha says that he has published more than 15 scientific papers in national and international journals. Majumdar, who has been an active RSS worker, entered Parliament in 2019, defeating the sitting MP, the TMC’s Arpita Ghosh, at the Balurghat seat by a margin of over 33,000 votes.
He has an image that is very different from that of his predecessor’s, who was known for making controversial and provocative statements. Why was Majumdar chosen? Sources in the BJP said Majumdar, who at 41 is the youngest state president of the party, has been brought in to strengthen the organisation after the disaster of the Assembly elections, and to arrest the defection of party MLAs to the TMC.