After eight months on the sidelines, the West Bengal BJP has reactivated former state president Dilip Ghosh to play a leading role in the upcoming assembly election campaign. Union Home Minister Amit Shah instructed him and other leaders to set aside internal differences. The move signals the party's intent to project unity and launch an aggressive push against the TMC.
Dilip Ghosh was sidelined by the BJP eight months ago following his meeting with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee at the Jagannath Temple in Digha on April 30, 2025. On December 31, 2025, Union Home Minister Amit Shah directed Ghosh and three other Bengal BJP leaders to overlook internal differences and spearhead the election preparations for the 2026 assembly polls. The next day, January 1, 2026, Ghosh conferred with state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya to outline his campaign strategy.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Ghosh said, “This is nothing new to me. Amit Shah has asked me to work. Whenever the party had earlier asked me to work, I did. In this (forthcoming) election, whatever party asks me to do, I will work for that. The BJP has already done rallies at the grassroots level. The state president will hold rallies across the state, and we will be with him.” He is set to join rallies starting January 6, 2026.
Ghosh's career began in the RSS as a pracharak in 1984, rising to handle Andaman and Nicobar from 1999 to 2007. Joining the BJP in 2014, he became Bengal state president in 2015 and was reappointed in 2020. Under his leadership, the party won a record 18 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 and 77 assembly seats in 2021, boosting vote share from 10.16% in 2016 to 37.97% in 2021. Despite this, failing to oust the TMC led to Sukanta Majumdar replacing him months later. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Ghosh lost from Burdwan-Durgapur to TMC's Kirti Azad.
A senior Delhi BJP leader noted, “Unity of the party’s Bengal unit is of supreme importance... Local leaders like Ghosh will play a crucial role.” The current state leadership includes Bhattacharya, opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari, and Majumdar. TMC's Kunal Ghosh dismissed the reinstatement, quipping it was a “blessing of Digha’s Lord Jagannath.” CPI(M)'s Shatarup Ghosh called it no big news.
Ghosh's return leverages his grassroots connect and aggressive style, though overcoming factional feuds remains key to challenging the TMC effectively.
