Kolkata: The central BJP leadership has clipped the wings of Kailash Vijayvargiya, party's national secretary, in charge of Bengal, after being fed with the infighting in the state unit that has affected the party's poll prospects ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections.
Vijayvargiya, who has been replaced by Shiv Prakash, will concentrate on Madhya Pradesh.
The central leadership's decision came within 24 hours after Subrota Chatterjee, general secretary (organisation) of the state unit was replaced by Amitava Chakraborty, an RSS Pracharak, who was so far looking after Odisha.
The unceremonious removal of Chatterjee has not gone down well with the party's rank and file. He was looking after the organisation of the state unit from 2014 and was responsible for the party's success in the Panchayat elections in 2018 and subsequently in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. A close aide of Dilip Ghosh, Chatterjee knows the state very well.
The central leadership is fed-up with group politics that has crippled the party, a senior leader said. The party is now divided into two major groups led by Ghosh and Mukul Roy. "It is a fact that Ghosh's acceptability throughout the state is more than any one. He is the only leader in Bengal who in his inaugural debut became an MLA and subsequently became an MP though he joined BJP from the RSS only six months before the 2016 Assembly elections." He said the Central leadership does not encourage group politics and it is said Vijayvargiya had to go after he supported group politics in Bengal.
Ghosh has strained relations with Saumitra Khan, the state president of Bharatiya Janata Yuba Morcha (BJYM). The breach widened after Ghosh disbanded all the district units of the BJYM. Despite best efforts by the central leadership, the reconciliation has not happened.
J Nadda, the party's national president, is currently touring Bengal and his prime purpose is to put an end to the group politics. It was learnt that attempts will be made to bring back Rahul Sinha, former president of the state unit before Diwali.