Dilip Ghosh: Was there a plan to get BJP veterans defeated in Bengal?
Times of India | 8 June 2024
KOLKATA: Former Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh on Friday said there may have been a "deliberate plan" to get party veterans defeated in Bengal, even as Bankura MLA Niladri Sekhar Dana joined the chorus of criticism on how the Lok Sabha elections had been handled in the state and Bishnupur MP Saumitra Khan called the core committee "incompetent".
Hours before the BJP brass in New Delhi met state party seniors to discuss poll performance, the former Midnapore MP - who had a day earlier slammed the move to change his constituency to Burdwan-Durgapur - questioned the decision to field former Union minister Debasree Chaudhuri in Kolkata South instead of Raiganj, which she had won in 2019.
Chaudhuri lost Kolkata South to Trinamool Congress's Mala Roy, the incumbent, by 1.87 lakh votes.
"Were the veteran and established netas sent to get defeated? Parties plan to win the seats they had lost earlier. But here, it seems there was a deliberate plan to lose the constituencies we had won," Ghosh said.
BJP fielded Kartick Paul in place of Chaudhuri in Raiganj. "He was just a municipality councillor. If he could win from Raiganj, Debasree could have won too. I had asked her to stay put there, but she was shifted," he said.
Dana, too, called the decision to change Ghosh's constituency "flawed". "We had 18 MPs under his leadership. He had to face fierce opponents and violence during his tenure. He will always stand tall in the party. There may have been some mistakes," he said.
Khan, who had voiced his concerns earlier about moves in Bengal BJP, said there was no place for "fighters like him" in the core committee of 25 leaders. "It was crowded with incompetent people. We need leaders who can fight and those who can strategise," he said.
Bengal BJP's general secretary Agnimitra Paul, who contested in Midnapore after Ghosh was moved, said the decision had been taken by the party brass in New Delhi. "I don't know why Dilip da thinks that I am (state leader of opposition) Suvendu Adhikari's candidate. It isn't true. I was asked to contest from the seat by none other than (BJP national president J P) Nadda ji and (Union home minister) Amit Shah ji. I didn't have any say."
Paul added that Ghosh had secured 6.85 lakh votes in 2019 after serving as Kharagpur Sadar MLA for three years. "I managed to get 6.75 lakh votes in two months. I believe he should consider that too," she said.
BJP's Krishnanagar candidate Amrita Roy, who lost to TMC's Mahua Moitra, said there was a lot of discord in the party's Bengal unit. "I have seen a lot of infighting within the party. If this continues, it will harm us in future. I heard that a lot of funds had come for the poll campaign, but I was completely in the dark. I felt insulted," she said.