Aveek Sarkar quits as Chief Editor of ABP

Kolkata, June 22  In a sudden development, Aveek Sarkar on Wednesday resigned as Editor of The Telegraph and Anandabazar Patrika and as Chief Editor of the ABP Group of Publications. His brother Arup Sarkar took over as the new Group Chief Editor, a top company official said.

"Aveek Sarkar has resigned as Editor of The Telegraph and Anandabazar Patrika. Arup Sarkar has taken over as new Group Chief Editor," ABP Chief Executive Officer and Managing Editor Dipankar Das Purkayastha told IANS.

Arup Sarkar was so long the Chief Editor (Bengali magazines) of the group. 

Anirban Chattopadhyay will be the new Editor of the largest circulated Bengali daily Ananda Bazar Patrika and the group's Bengali tabloid Ebela.

R. Rajagopal is the new Editor of The Telegraph, said Purkayastha.

Aveek Sarkar would now play an advisory role as Editor (Emeritus) and vice chairman of the company.

Sarkar announced his decision in the form of a brief note to employees, saying his resignation was part of a "succession plan".

The move came in the backdrop of the group's stringent opposition to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and her party during the recent assembly polls which she won comfortably.

However, Purkayastha said there was no connect between Sarkar's decision and the Trinamool.

"He is 71 years old and wants to give a chance to others. This is the succession programme which is being implemented," said Purkayastha.

Aveek Sarkar, one of the most prominent personalities in the Indian publishing scene, was tutored by the legendary Harold Evans, then the editor of The Sunday Times.

He was the moving force behind the transformation of the ABP Group from a regional house into a prominent national group and also led the group's entry into television.