West Bengal BJP President, Samik Bhattacharya, has expressed dissatisfaction with recent events at Kamarhati Municipality in North 24 Parganas district and has demanded a report on the situation. He emphasized that the BJP will not tolerate what he referred to as “encroachment politics.” Recently, Sushanta Chatterjee, the elder brother of BJP MP Locket Chatterjee, was appointed as the chairman of Kamarhati Municipality, sparking a significant political discussion in the state.
Samik Bhattacharya, the BJP state president, voiced his concerns on the matter after participating in the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Syama Prasad Mookerjee on Monday. During the event held at the BJP state headquarters in central Kolkata, he criticized certain recent activities of the party. Bhattacharya questioned whether the party would passively accept anyone becoming a councillor in Kolkata Municipal or municipalities in Baranagar, Kamarhati, Bidhannagar, and stressed that such actions would not be permitted.
He further mentioned that a report must be submitted to state general secretary Amitabh Chakraborty by the end of Monday. Following the change in government in the state, the Trinamool Congress has been losing control of various civic bodies. Notably, on June 12, Gopal Saha resigned from his positions as chairman and Trinamool councillor of Kamarhati Municipality, leading to a series of resignations by other councillors.
After Gopal Saha’s resignation, Sushanta Chatterjee, an Independent councillor and the elder brother of BJP leader Locket Chatterjee, emerged as a potential candidate for the chairman post. Last Friday, with the support of Trinamool councillors, Sushanta Chatterjee was elected as the chairman of Kamarhati Municipality. This decision, made unanimously by the 27 councillors present at the board meeting, fueled speculation that the municipality had shifted under BJP’s influence. Reacting to this development, the BJP state president expressed his discontent publicly on Monday.
