Axed from BJP central team, Anupam Hazra: Bengal unit’s stormy petrel, known for run-ins with leadership
Nadda removed Hazra, academic and ex-TMC MP, as BJP national secretary on a day when he along with Amit Shah held meetings with Bengal party brass on LS poll preparations
“As per the instructions of Bharatiya Janata Party National President J P Nadda, Anupam Hazra is relieved from the post of national secretary. This should be followed with immediate effect,” a statement issued by BJP national general secretary Arun Singh said.
A professor at Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan in Bengal’s Bolpur, Hazra has often fired salvos at the state BJP leadership in his social media posts for some time.
Hazra, who was elected from the Bolpur Lok Sabha constituency on the Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s ticket in the 2014 elections, had joined the BJP ahead of the 2019 polls.
He studied at Visva-Bharati University and got his PhD from Assam University. He completed his doctoral research on rural sanitation management (Swachh Bharat) and qualified for the National Eligibility Test for consecutive four times and awarded a Junior Research Fellowship by the University Grants Commission. Hazra has authored four books on various development subjects and contributed over 100 research articles to various national and international social science journals.
Due to his notable academic background, the TMC fielded him as its candidate from Bolpur in Birbhum district in the 2014 polls, in which he defeated prominent CPI(M) leader Ram Chandra Dome by over 2.5 lakh votes.
A year later, Hazra entered into a confrontation with Visva-Bharati University after the varsity authorities barred him from taking classes after he took extensive leaves to attend the Parliament sessions. In June 2015, the university dismissed him as an assistant professor in its social work department before his lien was over.
Hazra accused the university of terminating his job “illegally” for his bid to “raise his voice against corruption at the university”. In June 2018, he won a lawsuit against the Centre and the university, which led to his reinstatement as an assistant professor.
As a TMC leader, Hazra had often criticised the leadership of the party heavyweight from Birbhum, Anubrata Mondal.
Hazra, who called Mondal “kaka (uncle)”, used to allege that despite being an MP he could not work freely due to the influence of the party satraps of the belt. On a number of occasions, he targeted Mondal for his handling the local party affairs.
Upset by his “rebellious attitude” and “anti-party activities”, the TMC leadership expelled Hazra from the party in January 2019. A month later, Hazra joined the BJP, which fielded him in the 2019 polls from the Jadavpur constituency in South 24 Parganas district.
Ahead of the election, Hazra triggered another controversy when he brought former WWE wrestler Khali to campaign for him. The TMC lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against the BJP candidate as a foreigner (Khali being a US citizen since 2014) cannot campaign in a poll in the country. Hazra lost the election to the TMC’s candidate and actor-turned-politician Mimi Chakraborty.
In 2020, the BJP central leadership appointed Hazra as theparty national secretary, replacing Rahul Sinha, the former state unit chief. Earlier this year, the BJP leadership named Hazra as the party national secretary for the second consecutive time.
On December 24, Hazra again created a stir when he accused state BJP leaders of allegedly siphoning funds in the name of the Gita Path programme at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata. In a social media post, Hazra charged that the passes for the event were sold for Rs 1,000 per head by the party leaders, demanding an enquiry into the matter. “Some VIP passes were made for Gita Path for some VIP people. It was given to block-level leaders of BJP to be given to some people. However, in Birbhum’s Nalhati, these cards are being sold for Rs 1,000,” he stated.
Hazra also set up a stall at Poush Mela in Santiniketan, where he appealed to the BJP’s dissidents and aggrieved workers to register their grievances. Sources said his recurrent criticism of the state BJP leader did not go well with the party leadership, which led to his removal from his post.
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