Dilip Ghosh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| National Vice President of Bharatiya Janata Party | |
| In office 2021 – 29 July 2023[1] | |
| 9thPresident of Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal | |
| In office 2015–2021 | |
| Preceded by | Rahul Sinha |
| Succeeded by | Sukanta Majumdar |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 23 May 2019 – 5 June 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Sandhya Roy |
| Succeeded by | June Malia |
| Constituency | Medinipur |
| Member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 19 May 2016 – 23 May 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Gyan Singh Sohanpal |
| Succeeded by | Pradip Sarkar |
| Constituency | Kharagpur Sadar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1964-08-01)1 August 1964 (age 61) |
| Party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Other political affiliations | Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) |
| Spouse | [3] |
| Residence(s) | Salt Lake,Kolkata |
| Signature |  |
| Website | |
| Nickname | Naru da[4] |
Dilip Ghosh (born 1 August 1964) is an Indian politician fromWest Bengal. He was theMember of Parliament representing theMedinipur constituency inLok Sabha. He also served as one of the national vice presidents ofBharatiya Janata Party from 2021 to 2023.[1] He served as the 9th president of theWest Bengal unit of theBharatiya Janata Party.[6][7]
Ghosh was born in Kuliana village nearGopiballavpur ofPaschim Medinipur district,West Bengal. He was the second of the four sons of Bholanath Ghosh and Puspalata Ghosh.
After completing his secondary schooling, Ghosh claims to have pursueddiploma in engineering from a polytechnic college inJhargram over an affidavit filed with theElection Commission of India, a case regarding the matter was filed in theCalcutta High Court but the court dismissed it on the grounds that public interest litigation can not be regarding a person's educational qualification.[8] The lone polytechnic institute in the region –Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Polytechnic maintains that Ghosh did not pass the diploma from the college between 1975 and 1990.[9][10][11]
Ghosh comes from the economically backward areas ofJungle Mahals[12] and belongs to theBengali Sadgop caste.[13] Ghosh is married to Rinku Majumdar,[3] a fellow party leader, in an intimate ceremony on April 18, 2025.[14]
Ghosh started his political journey as a volunteer or "Pracharak" ofRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1984. He was the in-charge of RSS inAndaman and Nicobar Islands from 1999 to 2007, and worked as an assistant to former RSS chiefK. S. Sudarshan. In 2014, Ghosh was loaned into BJP[15] and was appointed the General Secretary of the West Bengal unit. In 2015, Ghosh was appointed West Bengal State President of the BJP.[16]
Ghosh made his electoral debut in2016 contesting theWest Bengal Legislative Assembly fromKharagpur Sadar. He won in theKharagpur Sadar constituency ofPaschim Medinipur district by defeating his nearest rivalGyan Singh Sohanpal, anIndian National Congress candidate. Gyan Singh Sohanpal of Congress had won the Kharagpur Sadar assembly seat seven times in a row from 1982 to 2011.[17]
In September 2016, Ghosh went for a seven-day trip to the US, to highlight oppression of the Hindus in West Bengal and infiltration of Muslims fromBangladesh; other speakers in the programme wereSubramanian Swamy andHukum Singh.[18] He delivered the lecture to the greater Hindu Community in USA, New Jersey & New York. The program was organized by the US based Hindu Groups.[19]
Under his leadership, in2019 Lok Sabha election in West Bengal, theBharatiya Janata Party, without any major political alliance, won 18Lok Sabha seats out of the 42 constituencies inWest Bengal with 40.25% votes.[20] Ghosh himself contested and won theMedinipur Lok Sabha constituency in the2019 elections by a margin of 88,952 votes and a vote share of 48.62% by defeating Trinamool Congress candidateManas Bhunia.[21]
He launched a political campaignChai Pe Charcha where he spoke to people while sipping tea. He made a popular sloganUnishe Half, Ekushe Saaf before the general election.[22] He was attacked on one such campaign on August 30, 2019, inKolkata'sLake Town area allegedly byTrinamool Congress workers.[23]
In August 2019, Ghosh accompaniedRam Nath Kovind to an official seven-day visit to the African countries ofBenin,The Gambia andGuinea as a part of the official Indian delegation.[24]
In January 2020 Dilip Ghosh was re-appointed West Bengal BJP president.[25] Soon after reappointment, he remarked thatWest Bengal has turned into hub of anti-nationals activities under the governance ofTrinamool Congress.[26][27]
Dilip Ghosh was not contested from any MLA seat in the election however he attended and participated in many election campaigns, rallies and political meetings for the BJP candidate from all over the West Bengal. After the election result he raised the incidents for post-poll violence occurred in different parts of West Bengal.[28]
He drew criticism when he turned away an ambulance which tried to make way through a rally he was addressing inNadia,[29][30][31] while the ambulance was actually carrying a patient.[32][33] He claimed that theTMC had done it purposely to disrupt the rally.
Dilip Ghosh has made many controversial comments in his several political rallies including name calling people,[34][35][36] call for violence like killing and mass murder of political opponents,[37][38][39] protestors[40][41][42][43] and to create trouble.[44][45]
In May 2016, he raised a controversy when he said girl students ofJadavpur University "below standard and shameless who are always in search of opportunity to be in the company of male students".[34][35][36] In one of his speeches he criticised "few intellectuals" for having beef on roads and asked them to consume 'dog meat' at their homes.[46][47] In August 2019, he out of anger due to too much suppression and violence on BJP workers by TMC told that theTrinamul Congress workers' families would be wiped out if he starts killing them . Triggering controversy, he even ordered his party workers rather to take revenge againstTMC and even the police through violence.[37][38][39] In September 2019, terming the students ofJadavpur University "anti-nationals" and "terrorists", he insinuated that his party would conduct a "Balakot-like surgical strike" on the JU campus to drive out the communists.[40][41][42][43] In November 2019, he stirred up a controversy with his remark stating that foreign cows are aunties, Indian cows produce gold. "The characteristics of Indian cows is that its milk has gold which is why its colour is yellow to some extent. "The Indian cows have hump. But the foreign cows do not have it," he said while addressing a gathering at an event Gopa Ashtami Karyakram organised by him and Gavikalyan Samity atBurdwan.[48][49][50] He also courted controversy when he said antiCAA intellectuals are 'devils' and 'parasites' who don't know about their parents.[51][52][53][54][55]
On 30 January, while addressing a political rally, he commented "Unless you visit jail, you cannot be a political leader".[56][57] Ghosh made derogatory remarks aboutGoddess Durga, the most worshipped deity inBengali Hindu society in an attempt to glorifyLord Rama, the most worshipped deity in North Indian Hindu society. He asked that as everyone knows the names of his ancestors of Lord Ram and does everyone know the same about Durga on 13 February 2021. TMC workers tonsured their heads to protest his statement.[58]He raised questions that why nobody was falling ill or dying atShaheen Bagh protests, at an event organised by the Kolkata Press Club.[59][60] On 16 February 2020, he took a jibe on anti Citizenship Amendment Act protesters, and said "some uneducated, unaware, poor people have been lured with money and are being fed Biryani with foreign funds to continue with the protests."[61]
Dilip Ghosh, who is famous for his controversial remarks, made below-the-belt attacks on theincumbent Chief Minister during his election campaign in 2021. Ghosh askedMamata Banerjee to wear'Bermudas' in order to display her plastered leg.[62] He later defended his Bermuda remark.[63] He continued to make various other derogatory remarks about the CM during his rallies, questioning her character and lineage.[64][65][66][67] "The police have to work from under our feet," he said in a rally.[68] Ghosh made controversial remarks even about NetajiSubhas Chandra Bose.[69]
In January 2020, a lone woman carrying antiCAA poster was heckled by his partyman. Later while speaking to newsmen, Ghosh justified the heckling of the woman saying "Our men did the right thing. She should thank her stars that she was only heckled and nothing else was done to her".[70][71][72] Police later registered a sexual harassment case against Ghosh for his remarks.[73]
During the2021 election campaign, Dilip Ghosh made provocative remarks whileModel Code of Conduct was in force, which created grounds for violence.[74] After the election,Kolkata Police lodgedFIR against him for promoting enmity.[75]
In March 2020, he claimed that, there is no harm in drinkingcow urine and he has no qualms in admitting he consumes it. The claim that consumption of cow urine can cure coronavirus drew sharp criticism from the rulingTrinamool Congress.[76][77] In September 2020, Dilip Ghosh declared that the coronavirus pandemic had ended and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee imposed a lockdown on the state to prevent the BJP party from holding public meetings in a packed rally.[78] Ghosh was tested positive forCOVID-19, and was admitted to a private hospital on 16 October 2020.[79] He was later discharged from the hospital on 20 October 2020 after recovering fromCOVID-19.[80]
| Year | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| May 2019-June 2024 | Member of Parliament,Lok Sabha(1st term) –Medinipur | |
| 24 July 2019 | Member, Committee on Estimates | |
| 13 September 2019 | Member, Standing Committee on Home Affairs | |
| 9 October 2019 | Member, Committee of Privileges | |
| Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship | ||
| 2016–2019 | Member, West Bengal Legislative Assembly(1st term) –Kharagpur | |
| 2018–2019 |
| |
| Year | Description | Organization |
|---|---|---|
| 2020–2023 | President, West Bengal | BJP |
| 2015–2020 | ||
| 2014–2015 | General Secretary, West Bengal | |
| 1999–2007 | In-Charge, Andaman and Nicobar Islands | RSS |
The 55-year-old state unit chief, Dilip Ghosh, is now a key component of the party, largely due to his personality and oratorical skills, even if controversial at times.
The party's, state president Dilip Ghosh (a surname commonly used by members of both the Sadgope and the upper caste Kayastha community) hails from the western districts in the Jangalmahal region (dominated by OBC and ST voters) and is himself an OBC from the Sadgope caste. Such has been his mass appeal in these regions, and consequent rise in the party, that he has sidelined much of the previous upper caste Bhadralok leadership of the party.
BJP sources revealed that a section of state leaders close to Bengal party president Dilip Ghosh are trying to project him as the Chief Ministerial candidate, claiming that he is a "grassroots level leader" who has risen through party ranks from a humble background.
Dilip Ghosh was also scheduled to attend a 'Chai Pe Charcha' meet in Lake Town. He was suddenly surrounded by a mob who allegedly attacked him. The BJP has claimed the men belonged to the TMC.
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