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Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal

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Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal
PresidentDilip Ghosh
General SecretarySubrato Chattopadhyay
Headquarters6, Muralidhar Sen Lane, College Square, Kolkata-700073, West Bengal
NewspaperKamal Barta
Youth wingBharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, West Bengal
Women's wingBJP Mahila Morcha, West Bengal
Ideology
Colours  Saffron
AllianceNational Democratic Alliance
Seats in Lok Sabha
18 / 42
Seats in Rajya Sabha
0 / 16
Seats in West Bengal Legislative Assembly
15 / 294
Seats in Gorkhaland Territorial Administration
0 / 62
Website
bjpbengal.org

Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal (or BJP West Bengal) is a state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal. The headquarters is located in Kolkata. The BJP have its roots in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh founded by Syama Prasad Mukherjee.

The party appointed Dilip Ghosh as the president of the BJP West Bengal and he is currently serving to this position from 2015.[1][2]

History

Brief History

Vote share in consecutive assembly elections
2016
10.16%
2011
6.52%
2006
1.93%
2001
5.19%
1996
6.45%
1991
11.34%
1987
0.51%
1982
0.58%
Vote share in consecutive Lok Sabha elections
2019
40.25%
2014
17.02%
2009
6.14%
2004
8.06%
1999
11.13%
1998
10.2%
1996
6.88%
1991
11.66%
1989
1.67%
1984
0.4%

Early elections

The Bharatiya Janata Party contested the West Bengal assembly election for the first time in 1982.[3] The primary objective of the party was to create a nucleus for a future third force in West Bengal politics.[3] The party supported the call of the West Bengal government to hold the elections in March 1982.[4] The party contested on 52 assembly constituencies and got around 129,994 votes in the state.

In 1984 Lok Sabha election, BJP contested on 9 seats and got 101165 (0.4%) votes in West Bengal.

In the 1987 the party contested on 57 constituencies and slightly increased its votes to 134,867.

In 1989 Lok Sabha election, BJP contested on 19 seats and got 529618 (1.67%) votes in West Bengal.

The Bharatiya Janata Party fielded 291 candidates across the state in 1991 Vidhan Sabha election, and managed to increase its share of votes from 0.51% in 1987 to 11.34% (3,513,121 votes).[5][3] This was the first time BJP fielded such a large number of candidates in West Bengal assembly elections.[3] The party also fielded 42 candidates for the 1991 Lok Sabha election which took place simultaneously with the Vidhan Sabha election. The BJP got 3624974 (11.66%) votes in this election. Rather than focusing primarily on the Ayodhya issue, which was highlighted in the BJP campaigns across the country, the West Bengal BJP campaign concentrated on agitations against immigration from Bangladesh.[6] The campaign sought to invoke Bengali memories of Partition.[6] Whilst support for BJP increased amongst Bengali communities, its main stronghold in the state remained non-Bengali populations in Calcutta (Marwaris and Gujaratis).[6]

In 1996, both Assembly election and Lok Sabha election took place simultaneously, the party contested on 292 assembly constituencies and got 2,372,480 (6.45%) votes[7] and contested 42 Lok Sabha seats and got 2525864 (6.88%) votes across the state.[8]

In 1998, the BJP contested on 14 seats and won 1 Lok Sabha seat for the first time in West Bengal from Dum Dum. It got 3724662 (10.2%) votes.[9] Tapan Sikdar, who was serving as the West Bengal State President of BJP, won the Dum Dum constituency with 631,383 (50.7%) votes defeating nearest rival Nirmal Kanti Chatterjee of the CPI (M).[10]

In 1999, the BJP in an alliance with All India Trinamool Congress contested 13 seats and won 2 Lok Sabha seats and got 3,928,424 votes (11.13).[11] The two elected Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha were Satyabrata Mookherjee from Krishnanagar with 43.82% votes and Tapan Sikdar from Dum Dum with 51.59% votes.[12]

Post 2000

In 2001 the party contested on 266 constituencies and got 1901351 (5.19%) votes throughout the state and 5.68% in seats contested.[13]

In the 2004, the National Democratic Alliance was completely decimated by CPI (M) led Left Front and INC led UPA. The BJP didn't won a single seat and its ally All India Trinamool Congress was reduced to just 1 Lok Sabha seat.[14] The BJP however managed to get 2983950 (8.06%) votes.[15]

In the 2006 elections, the BJP got in an alliance with the All India Trinamool Congress and contested on 29 constituencies. The BJP got 760236 (1.93%) votes throughout West Bengal and 19.89% on seats it contested.[16]

In 2009, BJP candidate Jaswant Singh, with support from Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, won the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat with 4,97,649 (51.50%) votes. Across the state BJP got only 6.14% votes.

Post 2010

In 2011 the BJP allied with GJM.

In 2014 the BJP won only 2 seats. But what was significant is that BJP candidates for the first time, returned runner-up in 3 seats and it also got 17.2% vote share throughout the state. It was BJP's best performance so far surpassing its previous best of 11.66% in 1991 elections. However the All India Trinamool Congress dominated the election winning 34 seats.[17]

In 2016 the BJP in an alliance with GJM contested 291 seats and got 5,555,134 (10.16%) votes and created history by winning 3 assembly seats for the first time.[18]

There was a major political shift from the left to the right in the 2019 Lok Sabha election in West Bengal. The Bharatiya Janata Party, without any major alliance, won 18 Lok Sabha seats out of the 42 constituencies with 23,028,343 (40.25%) votes.

West Bengal election results 2019: Left veers into political oblivion

Making an aggressive penetration in Bengal for the first time since its inception in 1980, BJP alone has dramatically increased its vote share close to 40 percent this time. Thus, it has virtually made the CPI-M into a mere marginalised political party and at the same time the saffron party set a strong challenge before the Trinamool Congress hardly two years ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled in 2021 in the state.

The Statesman[19]

This obviously is the most important impact of the general elections in the state visible in the voting pattern right across the state, irrespective of who won or lost a particular seat.[20]

Soon after, the Government of India passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) in the Parliament of India, promising citizenship to Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh and hoping to garner their vote.[21][22]

Post 2020

The BJP's Bengali booklet released in January 2020 claimed that the National Register of Citizens will be implemented to identify the undocumented migrants, but Hindus, Sikhs and other non-Muslims will be "shielded" by the Citizenship Amendment Act.[23][24]

Leadership

State President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal
Incumbent
Dilip Ghosh
Term lengthThree years
Inaugural holderHaripada Bharati
Formation1980

List of Past Presidents

No. Name Term in office
1 Haripada Bharati 1980-1982
2 Dr. Vishnukant Shastri 1982-1986
3 Sukumar Banerjee 1986-1991
4 Tapan Sikdar 1991-1995
(2) Dr. Vishnukant Shastri 1995-1997
(4) Tapan Sikdar 1997-1999
5 Ashim Ghosh 1999-2002
6 Tathagata Roy 2002-2006
(3) Sukumar Banerjee 2006-2008
7 Satyabrata Mookherjee 2008-2009
8 Rahul Sinha 2009-2015
9 Dilip Ghosh 2015–incumbent

Elected Members

Incumbent Member(s) of Parliament

Member of Parliament Constituency Name District(s) Term Start
Babul Supriyo Asansol Paschim Bardhaman district 2014
S. S. Ahluwalia Bardhaman–Durgapur Purba Bardhaman district - Paschim Bardhaman district 2019
Saumitra Khan Bishnupur Bankura district - Purba Bardhaman district
Subhash Sarkar Bankura Bankura district
Jyotirmoy Mahato Purulia Purulia district
Dilip Ghosh Medinipur Paschim Medinipur district - Purba Medinipur district
Kunar Hembram Jhargram Jhargram district - Paschim Medinipur district - Purulia district
Locket Chatterjee Hooghly Hooghly district
Arjun Singh Barrackpore North 24 Parganas district
Shantanu Thakur Bangaon North 24 Parganas district
Jagannath Sarkar Ranaghat Nadia district
Khagen Murmu Maldaha Uttar Malda district
Sukanta Majumder Balurghat Dakshin Dinajpur district - Uttar Dinajpur district
Debasree Chaudhuri Raiganj Uttar Dinajpur district
Raju Bista Darjeeling Darjeeling district - Kalimpong district - Uttar Dinajpur district
Jayanta Kumar Roy Jalpaiguri Jalpaiguri district - Cooch Behar district
John Barla Alipurduars Alipurduar district - Cooch Behar district
Nisith Pramanik Cooch Behar Cooch Behar district

Incumbent Member(s) of Legislative Assembly

Member of Legislative Assembly Constituency Name District(s)
Neeraj Zimba Darjeeling Darjeeling district
Joyel Murmu Habibpur Malda district
Swadhin Kumar Sarkar Baisnabnagar
Wilson Champramary Kalchini (Vidhan Sabha constituency) Alipurduar district
Manoj Tigga Madarihat
Ashis Kumar Biswas Krishnaganj Nadia district
Sabyasachi Dutta Rajarhat New Town North 24 Parganas district
Subhranshu Roy Bijpur
Sunil Singh Noapara
Pawan singh Bhatpara
Dulal Bor Bagdah
Biswajit Das Bangaon Uttar
Tushar Kanti Bhattacharya Bishnupur South 24 Parganas district
Sovan Chatterjee Behala Purba
Debendra Nath Roy Hemtabad Uttar Dinajpur district
  •   Members who won on from different parties but later joined Bharatiya Janata Party.

Organisation and Structure

The West Bengal BJP has one president, twelve vice presidents and five general secretaries.[25]

  • State President: Dilip Ghosh
  • State Vice President: Arjun Singh, Subhash Sarkar, Bishwapriya Raichaudhury, Pratap Banerjee, Rajkamal Pathak, Bapi Mitra, Ritesh Tiwari, Jay Prakash Mazumdar, Anindya Banerjee, Dipen Pramanik, Bharati Ghosh and Mafuza Khatoon.
  • State General Secretaries: Sayantan Basu, Locket Chatterjee, Jyotirmoy Mahato, Sanjay Singh and Rathindranth Basu.

Morcha Presidents

Departments

Departments In-Charge
Media Department Saptarshi Chowdhury
Department of Coordination of IT, Website and Social Media Activities Ujjwal Pareek, Joy Mallick
Department of Legal Brajesh Jha
Department for Good Governance Subhash Sarkar, Sanjay Singh
Department for Policy Research Samik Bhattacharya
Media Relations Department Sayantan Basu
Training Department Deepanjan Guha
Department of Political Feedback Jayprakash Majumder
Department of Political Programs & Meetings Pratap Banerjee, Vidyasagar Mantri, Pradip Mishra, Biplab Mitra
Library and Documentation Departments Gopal Sarkar
Department of Disaster Relief and Assistance Prakash Das
Department of Development of Publicity Literature Manoj Das
Departments of Coordination of Trusts Tapan Ghosh
Department of Election Management Pravakar Tewary
Department of Coordination with Election Commission Joyprakash Majumder, Sisir Bajoria, Sanjoy Singh
Departments of Party Journals and Publications Pranoy Roy

See also

References

  1. ^ "Dilip Ghosh appointed West Bengal BJP chief". The Hindu. PTI. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  2. ^ "Dilip Ghosh re-elected West Bengal BJP chief". The Hindu. 16 January 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d Pratap Chandra Swain (2001). Bharatiya Janata Party: Profile and Performance. APH Publishing. p. 194. ISBN 978-81-7648-257-8.
  4. ^ The Annual Register of Indian Political Parties. Michiko & Panjathan. 1982. p. 108.
  5. ^ Election Commission of India. Statistical Report on General Election, 1991 to the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal
  6. ^ a b c Christophe Jaffrelot (1999). The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics: 1925 to the 1990s : Strategies of Identity-building, Implantation and Mobilisation (with Special Reference to Central India). Penguin Books India. p. 441. ISBN 978-0-14-024602-5.
  7. ^ Election Commission of India. Statistical Report on General Election, 1996 to the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal
  8. ^ "General Election, 1996 (Vol I, II)". eci.gov.in. Election Commission of India. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  9. ^ "General Election, 1998 (Vol I, II)". eci.gov.in. Election Commission of India.
  10. ^ "General Elections, 1998 - Constituency Wise Detailed Results" (PDF). West Bengal. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  11. ^ "General Elections 1999 – Overview of West Bengal : General Elections-2004". Press Information Bureau. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  12. ^ "General Elections, 1999 - Constituency Wise Detailed Results" (PDF). West Bengal. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  13. ^ "West Bengal 2001". eci.gov.in. Election Commission of India. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  14. ^ "Why did the NDA lose West Bengal?". rediff. 14 May 2004. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  15. ^ "General Election, 2004 (Vol I, II, III)". eci.gov.in. Election Commission of India. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  16. ^ "Election Commission of India - State Elections 2006: Partywise position in West Bengal". Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 23 May 2006. Retrieved 23 May 2006.
  17. ^ "The rise of BJP in West Bengal | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". dna. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  18. ^ "It's 'Mamata wave' in West Bengal as voters reject Congress-Left alliance". Ritesh K Srivastava. Zee News. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  19. ^ "West Bengal election results 2019: left veers into political oblivion". The Statesman, 24 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  20. ^ "Analysis: In West Bengal, Left's vote-reduction will benefit BJP but to what extent?". The Hindu 23 May 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  21. ^ Romita Datta, Why no one will douse the CAA fire in Bengal, India Today, 10 January 2020.
  22. ^ Kaushik Deka, Who is (not) a citizen?, India Today, 10 January 2020.
  23. ^ Amended citizenship law will shield Hindus when NRC will be rolled out, says BJP’s Bengali booklet, Scroll, 7 January 2020.
  24. ^ NRC next, says BJP’s Bengali booklet on CAA, The Indian Express, 7 January 2020.
  25. ^ Pooja Mehta (1 June 2020). "Major reshuffle in West Bengal BJP unit, Chandra Bose shunted out". zeenews.india.com. Kolkata: Zee News. Retrieved 2 June 2020.