Samik heat on Locket bro over Kamarhati civic chief election
Times of India | 7 July 2026
Kolkata: Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Monday demanded a report on the overnight installation of a new chairman at Kamarhati municipality, warning that any effort to change a municipal or panchayat board without party sanction could invite disciplinary action.
Independent councillor Sushanta Chatterjee — brother of BJP state general secretary Locket Chatterjee — was elected chairman of the Kamarhati municipality on Friday by 28 of the 35 councillors, following the resignation of former Trinamool chairman Gopal Saha and three other Trinamool councillors on June 12.
“I came to know that someone has become chairman of the Kamarhati municipality overnight. It is time that they restrain themselves. The party will not tolerate any such thing,” Bhattacharya said at a programme at the party headquarters.
He asked for an explanation to reach state general secretary Amitava Chakraborty by 4pm. “After the report, the district president will purify that chairman’s chair with holy water from the Ganga. We will not allow anyone to sit there before the govt takes any step,” he said.
Bhattacharya was categorical that the party and govt were separate entities. “The CM and the municipal affairs minister will look into stalemates in municipalities and appoint administrators if they feel so. None of the BJP netas have any power to run a defunct municipality or panchayat,” he said.
Sushanta Chatterjee pushed back, saying BJP had no role in the board. “The majority of the councillors belong to Trinamool Congress, while the rest, including myself, are Independents. There is not a single BJP councillor on the board. The councillors unanimously took this decision solely to ensure that civic services continue without disruption,” he said, adding that the election had followed the provisions of the West Bengal Municipal Act.