The party had fielded initially fielded former IPS officer Debashish Dhar from Birbhum seat, which falls in the Burdwan division. A 2010-batch IPS officer, Dhar was appointed the Superintendent of Police of Cooch Behar during the 2021 Assembly elections. He was suspended by the West Bengal government after the polls during which four people were killed at Sitalkuchi in the district by alleged firing by central forces. Even after his suspension was lifted, he was in compulsory wait for three years until he resigned on March 20.
In a rally in Cooch Behar district in April ahead of the first phase of elections, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had hit out at Dhar and said, “This (Sitalkuchi incident) was carried out under the instruction of someone who still has cases registered against him but has now been given clearance by the Centre. He (Dhar) is now contesting from Birbhum (on BJP ticket).” Dhar had, however, claimed in an interview to a Bengali channel that his suspension letter did not mention the Sitalkuchi incident. “I was not suspended over the Sitalkuchi incident. In my suspension letter, the reason for my suspension was mentioned that I didn’t act properly during the post-poll violence. There was no mention of the Sitalkuchi incident in my suspension letter,” he had said.
What nobody saw coming was Dhar’s nomination being cancelled due to the non-submission of a ‘no dues’ certificate. A ‘no dues’ certificate is issued to certify that a government employee does not owe any dues to the state.
Within a day, the BJP announced that it would field Debtanu Bhattacharya, a former pracharak and cluster in-charge of Rarh region in the state, from the seat instead. Incidentally, a few days before Dhar’s nomination was rejected, Banerjee had held a rally in Birbhum where she had claimed, “The BJP gave a ticket to the murderer of Sitalkuchi here but we did not give his clearance.” Dhar had later approached the Supreme Court to challenge the cancellation. The top court had refused to entertain his plea.
Talking about whether the candidate switch would affect the BJP’s chances in Birbhum, Bhattacharya said, “Who is the candidate and who failed to be candidate is not a factor in a parliamentary election. People will not vote for me. People will vote for Modiji and the huge success of his government. People will also reject the misrule of the TMC in this state.” “I am getting the support of common people. I saw that people are drawn towards the BJP,” he added. At the same time, a section of party leaders feel that Bengal BJP’s inner squabbles may cost them in the election.
A senior leader of BJP’s Birbhum unit said, “Here in Birbhum seat, the party has many groups. Dhar sat with every group and convinced them to work unitedly but all his efforts went to waste when his nomination was cancelled and Bhattacharya was named the candidate.” “While being posted in the district as an SP, Dhar knew the district well but Bhattacharya is not such an equipped candidate. Hence, the infighting within different groups has once again become a problem in this seat,” the leader added.
Birbhum has traditionally been a TMC stronghold. Apart from the Birbhum Lok Sabha seat, the party also holds six out of the seven assembly constituencies in Birbhum district. The lone assembly seat in the district with a BJP MLA is Dubrajpur.
After the arrest of TMC’s former Birbhum unit president Anubrata Mondal in the cattle smuggling case, infighting has been a recurrent problem for the party, according to leaders. Considered close to TMC chief, Mondal’s involvement in the case is by both the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The party is yet to find a replacement for Mondal.
In January, Banerjee had removed Roy and four other leaders from TMC’s district core committee. According to Roy, who has been an MP from Birbhum since 2009, infighting is a problem that every party faces. “Every party faces this (infighting) problem but during the election all our leaders are fighting for Mamata Banerjee. There is no debate on that,” said the former Tollywood actor.
Talking about her chances of retaining the seat, Roy said, “I am 200 per cent sure that I will win because the people know what I have done in these 15 years. The people of Birbhum know that Shatabdi Roy will never flee after winning. They are also aware of Mamata Banerjee’s development model. She has kept her word and fulfilled every promise.”
The Congress, which is contesting the Lok Sabha election in alliance with the Left Front, said the people in Birbhum now want change . The party has fielded former party MLA Milton Rashid from the constituency. “The truth is that the people want relief from both the BJP and TMC, especially in minority-dominated areas like Murarai, Hansan and Dubrajpur, where we will get a huge lead,” said CPI(M) district secretariat member Sanjib Burman. Rashid said that the people are now uniting to bring about a change in Bengal. “We are fighting against communalism, corruption and the economic policies of both the BJP and TMC. Those who are thinking that the Left Front and the Congress are not a factor (in the election) will regret at the end of the polls. People are now united to bring change in Bengal and India as well.”
Polling in Birbhum will be held on May 13 along with Baharampur, Krishnangar, Ranaghat, Asansol, Bardhaman-Durgapur, Bardhaman-Purba and Bolpur.