Need to Probe BJP’s Poor Performance: Dilip Ghosh

Kolkata: Hinting at "conspiracy and backbiting" behind his electoral loss, BJP leader Dilip Ghosh on Wednesday said it needs to be examined why the party could not maintain its momentum of growth in West Bengal after the 2021 assembly elections.

Speaking to reporters, Ghosh said he fought from the Bardhaman-Durgapur seat with all sincerity but could not get success.

"...conspiracies and backbiting are part of politics. I take them that way. Despite that, I worked hard enough, but success did not come. In politics, everyone walks around with a stick to poke you," he said.

Ghosh, who won from the Medinipur seat in 2019, lost to TMC's Kirti Azad in Bardhaman-Durgapur by 1.37 lakh votes this time.

Asked if the change in his constituency had any implication on his electoral fortunes, Ghosh said, "Nothing is impossible. All decisions have implications. People of Bengal will say whether this was right or wrong. When the team asked me, I did it with devotion. I did it with all sincerity. I am a disciplined worker. My party asked me to contest the election, and I contested."

"Bardhaman was a tough seat and people who went there will agree that there was at least some fight in one place... Those who nominated me for this seat will contemplate," he added.

Ghosh, who was removed as the state president of the BJP in 2021, said it needs to be examined why the party could not maintain its momentum of growth in West Bengal after the last assembly polls.

"The party was moving at a faster pace till 2021, which somehow got stuck after that. We could not move at the same pace in which we were moving till 2021. We had hoped a lot this year, but could not perform. There must be some gap. We must examine that. Everything should be discussed," he said.

BJP bagged 18 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal in the 2019 elections, but its tally went down to 12 this time.