Shankar Ghosh, the BJP MLA of Siliguri, has been chosen as the chief whip of the saffron party at the Bengal Assembly.

He will replace Manoj Tigga, the MLA of Madarihat Assembly seat of Alipurduar. Manoj, a two-time MLA, had contested at the Parliament elections from Alipurduar Lok Sabha seat and had won by defeating Prakash Chik Baraik, whom Trinamool had fielded in the seat.

On Monday, Shankar received a letter from the principal secretary of the secretariat of the Assembly.

“In the letter, it has been mentioned that the Speaker has recognized me as the chief whip in the opposition. I thank Sukanta Majumdar, Suvendu Adhikari and all other party leaders for having confidence in me,” he said.

It may be mentioned that the whip of a political party has the responsibility to ensure party’s discipline in the state legislature. He will have to ensure that MLAs of the party vote as per the party’s decision and not on their individual thoughts, said a source.

“Around 2.33 crore people voted the BJP against the TMC’s misrule. I and other BJP MLAs will work for them in the Assembly,” Shankar added.

He also said in Siliguri, he has introduced a direct interaction programme with residents to help them in resolving their problems.

“Whenever I will be in Siliguri, I will spend two hours each in the morning and evening to hear from the residents and will take up their issues with concerned quarters,” said the MLA.

Shankar, who has a political career of around 30 years, has also planned to visit state and central government offices in Siliguri to expedite development works. “There is also a plan to meet representatives of different associations to know their problems,” he added.