Dilip Ghosh, The BJP Veteran Making A Comeback In Bengal Elections

The BJP has announced Dilip Ghosh as its candidate from Kharagpur Sadar in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. Ghosh previously won this seat in 2016. 

The Bengal polls are scheduled in two phases on April 23 and 29. Results will be out on May 4.

AITC files a complaint with the Chief Election Commissioner against BJP leader Dilip Ghosh, alleging that he violated the model code of conduct and issued explicit threats of violence against leaders and workers of TMC and threatened the general public of the Kalighat and Chetla… pic.twitter.com/eqQoLm0q7l

— ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2026

Who Is Dilip Ghosh?

Dilip Ghosh was born on August 1, 1964, in Kuliana village near Gopiballavpur in West Bengal. After completing his secondary schooling, Ghosh pursued a diploma in engineering from a polytechnic college in Jhargram. There were disputes that this claim was fake but the matter was dismissed by the Calcutta High Court in 2017.

Ghosh began his political career in 1984 as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteer. From 1999 to 2007, he led the RSS in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and assisted RSS chief KS Sudarshan. He joined the BJP in 2014 as West Bengal General Secretary and became the state party president in 2015. 

Dilip Ghosh made his electoral debut in the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections, contesting from Kharagpur Sadar. He defeated veteran Congress leader Gyan Singh Sohanpal, a 10-term MLA, and became one of the three BJP MLAs in the state assembly. 

In 2019, Ghosh contested the Medinipur Lok Sabha seat and won by nearly 89,000 votes, defeating TMC candidate Manas Bhunia.  

Ghosh was re-appointed West Bengal BJP president in January 2020. He led campaigns for BJP candidates across the state during the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections but did not contest himself.  

He is married to Rinku Majumdar, who serves in the BJP's women's wing. 

Ghosh has faced multiple controversies. In May 2016, he called girl students “below standard and shameless who are always in search of opportunity to be in the company of male students.” 

In August 2019, he said TMC workers' families would be “wiped out” if violence against BJP workers continued. 

In September 2019, he labelled students “anti-nationals” and “terrorists” and threatened a “Balakot-like surgical strike” on the campus.

In November 2019, he said Indian cows produce gold and foreign cows are “not our mothers, but aunties.”

He also made remarks about Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, including asking her to wear “Bermudas” to show her plastered leg. 

In January 2020, a woman holding an anti-CAA poster was heckled by his party workers. Ghosh defended it, saying, “Our men did the right thing. She should thank her stars that she was only heckled and nothing else was done to her.”