Suvendu Adhikari government taps veteran actor-turned-BJP leader for culture role, effective immediately
Kolkata, October 7: Veteran actor and BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty has been appointed cultural advisor to the West Bengal government, with the status of a cabinet minister, according to an official notification issued on Wednesday.
The appointment was made by the state’s Information and Cultural Affairs Department and takes effect immediately. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced the decision.
The move gives one of Bengal’s best-known cultural figures a formal role in shaping the new BJP-led government’s cultural agenda. Chakraborty’s film career spans nearly five decades in both Bengali and Hindi cinema. He won the National Award for Best Actor for his debut film Mrigayaa in 1976 and became a household name with Disco Dancer in the 1980s. He received the Padma Bhushan and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2024.
His political career has also changed course. Chakraborty represented the Trinamool Congress in the Rajya Sabha from 2014 before resigning in 2016. He joined the BJP in March 2021, just ahead of that year’s Assembly election. Since then, he has been one of the party’s most recognisable campaigners in the state, drawing crowds at rallies during the 2021 polls and in later campaigns.
The government has not yet announced the specific responsibilities attached to the advisory post or how it will work alongside the culture department.
About The Author
