New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh is emerging as the leading contender to assume the role of West Bengal BJP chief. Snapping at his heels is Mr Suvendu Adhikari, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly.
This development follows the elevation of Dr Sukanta Majumder, the current state chief, to the Union council of ministers. At this juncture, Dr Majumder continues to oversee West Bengal BJP affairs as the working president of the state unit. While tension continues to escalate among the state leaders, the West Bengal BJP will hold a crucial meeting to review the reasons for its debacle in the Lok Sabha polls on Monday.
Meanwhile, facing criticism over the BJP's electoral performance in the state, Mr Adhikari skipped a meeting of the core committee in Kolkata on Saturday. Mr Adhikari, who left for Cooch Behar, maintained that it was “more important to be with the victims of the post-poll violence than attending meetings”. The BJP claims that party functionaries in the state were being targeted by Trinamul Congress workers, particularly in the Cooch Behar region. “Nearly 270 BJP workers have taken shelter in our party offices,” Mr Adhikari had claimed. He is, however, expected to attend the meeting on Monday to review the party's performance in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Party insiders have identified a “weak” organisational structure as a significant factor behind the BJP’s recent electoral setback in West Bengal. Sources said the BJP struggled to establish its presence in a large number of polling booths in the state. Sources revealed that the BJP had failed to deploy “polling agents” and appoint “booth presidents” in 40 per cent of nearly 80,000 polling booths in the state.
As the race for West Bengal’s BJP president heats up, a growing faction within the state unit is rooting for Mr Ghosh’s return to the top post. Mr Ghosh was credited with a remarkable surge in the BJP’s fortunes in West Bengal during his tenure as state party president. It was noted that during Mr Ghosh’s tenure as state chief, the BJP's vote share had soared from a modest 10 per cent to an impressive 39 per cent and the BJP transformed its legislative presence, increasing from a mere three members of the Legislative Assembly to a formidable 77 MLAs in the 2021 Assembly elections. In the 2019 general election, with Mr Ghosh at the helm, the BJP captured 18 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal. Those rallying behind Mr Ghosh went on to claim that the BJP’s “structural coherence and electoral strategy” have “weakened” since Mr Ghosh stepped down.
Besides Mr Adhikari, the other name floating was of Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato, who won by a slender margin from Purulia Lok Sabha berth. However, a large section of party leaders indicated that he might “not be effective” as a state unit president.
With the Assembly elections due in 2026, the BJP’s Minority Morcha in the state is getting ready to make an all-out attempt to reach out to the Muslims, who comprise nearly 30 per cent of the state’s population. Speaking to this newspaper, state Minority Morcha chief Charles Nandi felt that there was a major “communication gap” between the BJP and Muslims in the state. For Mr Nandi, this particular gap “needs to be bridged”.
Reminded of the Islamophobic rhetoric by top BJP leaders during the election campaign, Mr Nandi maintained that the BJP was “not against the minority community”. Speaking of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet slogan “Sabka saath, sabka vikas”, Mr Nandi also spoke of stepping up the “Modi-mitra” campaign, which the morcha had initiated ahead of the general election. However, with trends indicating that over 90 per cent of Muslim voters in West Bengal leaning towards the Trinamul Congress, Mr Nandi is now planning to target the intelligentsia of this particular community.
