Brushing aside speculation over a rift in Bengal BJP, State unit president Dilip Ghosh on Tuesday said all leaders will work together in the run up to the 2021 Assembly polls.
Party national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and senior leader Mukul Roy met Mr. Ghosh at his residence. The development comes days after a series of meetings in Delhi where party president J.P. Nadda had met Mr. Ghosh.
“Naddaji has asked me to stay away from controversies and not to reply to all your questions,” Mr. Ghosh told journalists on Tuesday when asked what transpired in his meeting with Mr. Nadda
He said confusion is being spread among party workers about rift by those who want to weaken the party in its fight against the Trinamool Congress. “The BJP was united, is united and will remain united. I want to assure our workers that we are in power in 17 States and at the Centre.”
Mr. Ghosh responded to queries on the role of party leader Mukul Roy, Union Minister Babul Supriyo and also on the remarks of former Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy who has expressed willingness to join active politics in Bengal.
“We will see Mukul Roy more active in the coming days. We wanted him to address press conferences and he did that. He wasn’t going to our party office as we kept a minimum staff there.” On the former Governor’s wish, Mr. Ghosh said the party’s central leadership will take the final call.
Mr. Ghosh’s remarks on Tuesday were much restrained compared to usual public utterances.
“Dilip Ghosh always bats on the front foot. I have been president of the State unit for four and a half years now and during my leadership the party won 18 [of 42] Lok Sabha seats,” Mr. Ghosh had said only last week. To his detractors in the party. Mr. Ghosh dared them to take on the Trinamool Congress.
The crucial question among the Bengal BJP leadership is who will lead the party in the Assembly polls. While leaders like Mr. Mukul Roy want more say in the decision making including selection of candidates, Mr. Ghosh has always asserted that he is at helm of the affairs.
Senior BJP leaders are of the opinion that the party does not announce a chief ministerial candidate in States where the party is not in power. Therefore, the power tussle in the Bengal unit, that has emerged as a challenger to the Trinamool Congress, is likely to continue till the State goes to polls in 2021.
