Leena Gangopadhyay, known to be close to the Trinamool Congress, has resigned as the Chairperson of the West Bengal Commission for Women (WBCW), officials informed on Wednesday, May 13.
This comes days after Suvendu Adhikari took oath as the new Chief Minister of West Bengal after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered a landslide victory in the 2026 Assembly elections, marking an end to Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government’s 15-year rule.
According to IANS, Gangopadhyay has stepped down before the end of her term. Being a key figure in women’s advocacy, Gangopadhyay is a prominent writer, producer, and director famous for her work in the Tollywood film industry. She also runs a production company.
Gangopadhyay was named the Chairperson of the state women’s commission in July 2023, while her term was expected to end in July this year. However, she has decided to resign early after the change of government in the state.
Notably, she expressed her intention to step down from the post over a month ago when a controversy erupted over the demise of Bengali actor Rahul Arunoday Banerjee.
Rahul drowned in the sea while shooting for a TV serial in Odisha’s Talsari on March 29. The serial was being produced by Gangopadhyay’s production banner.
After Rahul’s death, Leena claimed that he himself went into the sea as there was no scene of shooting in the water. Later on, it came out that Rahul drowned while shooting.
Rahul’s wife, actress Priyanka Sarkar, even lodged a complaint against Gangopadhyay and a few other members of the production company.
After Rahul’s demise, a section of Bengali actors, technicians and directors openly spoke against Gangopadhyay and decided to sever ties with her production company. She then expressed her desire to resign from the post so that there would be no accusation of ‘influence’ in the investigation into the case. However, she did not resign later.