The central leadership of the BJP removed Subrata Chatterjee as the general secretary (organisation) of the party’s Bengal unit and appointed Amitava Chakraborty in his place — a shuffle that bore the sign of the RSS’s growing assertiveness ahead of the Assembly polls.

A press communiqué issued by BJP national general secretary Arun Singh on Wednesday evening said party president JP Nadda had appointed Chakraborty as the Bengal general secretary (organisation), the most important post in the state unit.

Chakraborty, who was serving as one of the two joint general secretaries (organisation), has been asked to take charge with immediate effect. There was no mention of the future role of Chatterjee.

“There were a lot of complaints of various natures against Subrata-da... His removal was just a matter of time,” said a BJP insider.

Over the past few months, the discontent against Chatterjee, who enjoyed the support of state president Dilip Ghosh, was almost open in the state BJP circles.

“Subrata-da and Dilip-da were running the party’s affairs according to their whims. Even the Sangh (RSS), from where Subrata-da came to the party, had problems with him,” said a source.

In the BJP, the position of general secretary (organisation) goes to people inducted into the party from the Sangh. Chakraborty is also an RSS man and had served as an ABVP activist and a joint general secretary (organisation) of the party in Odisha.

Multiple sources in the BJP said Chattarejee’s removal was “a decision of Nagpur (the RSS headquarters)”.

“A change in the post of general secretary (organisation) just six to seven months ahead of the Assembly polls is an indication that Sangh will assert itself more and more in the affairs of Bengal,” said a source.

A section in the BJP thinks the change is significant as there is a message for Ghosh as well, who along with Chatterjee, formed “a syndicate of sorts” in the Bengal unit of the party. “Dilip-da has become a face of the party, and hence, he cannot be removed... But there is a message to him with this change,” said a senior state BJP leader.

Subrata Chatterjee Pictures courtesy: bjpbengal.org

According to him, as the party’s central leaders are confident of wresting the seat of power in the state, they didn’t want to keep someone like Chatterjee at the helm as complaints were pouring against him.

“If someone is not liked by most of the leaders, he has to go,” a BJP source said.

One of the major allegations against Chatterjee and Ghosh has been their reluctance to involve those who had crossed over from other parties in the affairs of the BJP. Besides, Chatterjee was also accused of having disregard for meritocracy and promoting only those who were close to him.

The sources said Chatterjee had testy ties with not only BJP’s national vice-president Mukul Roy but also junior Union minister Babul Supriyo and MPs Locket Chatterjee and Jagannath Sarkar and the central leaders were aware of the growing discontent against him. “The last straw was the absence of Subrata-da and Dilip-da from the puja organised by the party and inaugurated by the Prime Minister himself,” said a source.

Many believe the removal of Chatterjee indicated more power for Kailash Vijayvargiya, the party’s minder for Bengal, who is believed to be the man behind Roy’s elevation to the post of national vice-president.

Chatterjee couldn’t be contacted, but he put out a tweet congratulating Chakraborty.

Nadda visit

BJP national president JP Nadda will be in Bengal on November 6 and 7 — his second visit to the state in a month.

He had visited north Bengal ahead of Durga Puja on October 17 to meet BJP workers.

“Naddaji will be in Bengal on November 6 and 7. He will meet workers from two zones,” said state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh.

On the first day, Nadda will meet the workers from Birbhum, East Burdwan, Asansol, Purulia and Bankura districts that form the BJP’s Burdwan zone.

The following day, he will meet the members from the Midnapore zone that includes the districts of East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Jhargram, Howrah and Hooghly.

“We are yet to finalise the venues,” Ghosh said.

“He might address a core committee meeting in between,” a source said. The party has also requested home minister Amit Shah to visit Bengal.

“We have sent a list of dates to his office and asked Amitji to choose according to his convenience,” this person added. If things go as planned, Shah might come to Bengal sometime in November.