KOLKATA: A man who can effortlessly recite verses of Rabindranath Tagore, Jibanananda Das and Shakti Chattopadhyay, Samik Bhattacharya now faces a far more prosaic challenge — leading a divided BJP in West Bengal into a high-stakes Assembly election, barely 9–10 months away.
A Rajya Sabha MP and a long-time member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bhattacharya has been named state BJP president at a time when the party’s organisation is fractured and its electoral fortunes have been waning.
Originally from Panchanantala in Howrah, Bhattacharya came in contact with the Sangh in his early years, and briefly worked with the ABVP during his student days at Cotton College in Guwahati. He entered electoral politics in 2014, winning a bypoll from the Basirhat South Assembly constituency. Though his speeches in the House were well-received, he was not seen as a particularly skilled organiser during that time — a shortcoming that may still dog him as he steps into the new role.
In 2016, he reportedly declined an offer from the Trinamool Congress to join the party as a minister. But the BJP since then has undergone seismic shifts, especially after Suvendu Adhikari’s entry in 2020. The resulting tension between old-timers and new entrants has created deep fissures, which Bhattacharya must now attempt to bridge.
After peaking in 2021 with 77 Assembly seats, the BJP’s tally has since dropped to 65, following a string of defections to the TMC. The ruling party has also swept 10 of 11 bypolls since then. The previous state BJP president, Sukanta Majumdar, struggled to retain the party’s hold even in strongholds like North Bengal.
Bhattacharya’s appointment is seen as a safe, low-conflict choice — he’s known to avoid factional fights and carries no personal bloc within the party. That may prove an asset in reconciling divided camps. Yet, whether he can marshal the organisational strength needed for a credible electoral push remains uncertain.
The BJP’s challenge in Bengal isn’t just about mobilising workers — it’s about crafting a message that can withstand the TMC’s grassroots grip. Bhattacharya now carries that weight, even if, until recently, few within the BJP would have expected him to.
