KOLKATA: The BJP is planning a massive district-level organisational rejig in West Bengal following reports that many district-level party leaders have become ‘inactive’. The national leaders, in-charges of Bengal, are also in favour of axing those who are in the hierarchy because of their good relation with their mentors in the party.
The rejig is expected to trigger discontent within the party ahead of the panchayat polls slated to be held next year. Many district presidents, who fear removal from the hierarchy, expressed their discontent against the state leadership accusing them of not visiting the districts since their elevation in the party.
Sources in the saffron camp said the state BJP leaders already started the process of searching for new faces to replace the existing hierarchy in districts. “The process of preparing a draft mentioning the names of possible district presidents is going on. It has also triggered differences of opinion within the party. Many influential leaders are recommending the names of their own followers,’’ said a BJP leader in Kolkata.
The leader said the restructuring in district-level hierarchy is aimed at the next year’s rural polls. “Dissents and allegations surfaced within the party on several occasions in the recent past, especially since the induction of new state president Sukanta Majumdar last year and rejig of the state committee. We need to address the issues before the rural polls,’’ said the officer.
During the course of the new pick, the leadership is in search of those who have a transparent image in districts and for this, the party is taking feedback from grassroot levels about the recommended or proposed names, said sources.
An aggrieved district president in south Bengal, who fears to be axed in the restructuring, said, “Majumdar was appointed as the state president in September last year and new presidents like us were inducted after three months. But we have been branded as inactive leaders within one year when we did not get enough opportunity to prove ourselves competent.”
Move may spark discontent
The rejig is expected to trigger discontent within the party ahead of the panchayat polls slated to be held next year. Many district presidents, who fear removal from the hierarchy, expressed their discontent against the state leadership accusing them of not visiting the districts since their elevation