Source: Internet
KOLKATA 23 JUNE: With the BJP now eyeing West Bengal , the state wing of the party has been divided over the decision of including former Indian cricket captain and now BCCI chairman Sourav Ganguly to take on chief minister Mamata Banerjee for the upcoming Assembly elections.
While Ganguly has not committed to anything , three days ago West Bengal BJP selected a few names who will take on chief minister for the upcoming Assembly elections. The names includes BCCI chairman Sourav Ganguly, BJP MP Babul Supriyo , RSS general secretary of the state Jishnu Bose, among few other leaders.
While a section of BJP leaders are saying that those with an RSS background should be given prominence, others feel that face value is as more important in Bengal, rather than RSS background and so Ganguly can be an option.
A senior BJP leader, on condition of anonymity, said: “ We have already spoken with the Central leadership in Delhi that in Bengal the candidates with an RSS background. The Central leadership has told us to provide a few names who can counter Banerjee for the upcoming elections, but the final list has not been prepared.”
Dilip Ghosh, state BJP president said: “ The final list is yet to be finalised. But some preliminary names have been shortlisted and the Central leadership has forwarded whose who can contest in BJP ticket as candidates. Ganguly’s name has also been forwarded to us , but Ganguly has not committed to anything yet.”
Mukul Roy who joined BJP from Trinamool Congress has been sidelined
Mukul Roy who joined BJP from Trinamool Congress worked hard in the initial years which led BJP winning 18 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, while the TMC won 22 seats. In 2014 TMC won 34 seats from Bengal . While Roy has always been working behind to increase the base of BJP in Bengal , a section of BJP leaders felt that Roy was not given due credit in BJP as far as his work is concerned. He has neither been given any top post and has also not been entrusted with any bigger responsibility.
As a result a few close BJP leaders of Roy are aggrieved.
It may be mentioned that under Amit Shah’s leadership as BJP president , Hemanta Biswa Sharma of Assam changed his party colour from Congress to saffron party . Similar incident was also noticed in case of Jyotiraditya Scindia who joined BJP from Congress to get a good portfolio.
Roy said: “I am working for the party and I have been appointed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Whatever they will say I will do it for the party.”
A section of BJP leaders, however, are of the opinion since Roy joined the state BJP a cold war has always been brewing inside the party, but nobody tried to highlight it openly about their disregard for Roy as he was chosen by the Central leadership. Many leaders also felt that he should not have been inducted inside the state BJP as he does not have any RSS background.
After Roy joined BJP, many close aides of Roy like Sabyasachi Dutta, former mayor of Bidhannagar municipality, and Arjun Singh joined BJP. Singh has been made the MP soon after, and Dutta has been appointed as the secretary of the state BJP.
Political analysts are of the opinion that although defection from other parties has worked for BJP earlier, but at present state BJP needs to find innovative ways to woo the voters, rather than focusing on defections from the TMC.
In the backdrop of COVID-19 crisis and cyclone Amphan, the BJP needs to be more empathetic and get to be more connected with the voters when it comes to wooing them, rather than just concentrating on defecting leaders from other parties and strengthening their base in Bengal.
Imankalyan Lahiri a senior political analyst and Professor of International Relations Jadavpur University said: “At a time when chief minister Mamata Banerjee is leaving no stones unturned and has already appointed ace election strategist Prashant Kishor, BJP needs to get connected with the people , apart from defecting leaders from other parties for taking over Banerjee in the upcoming Assembly elections.”