The trouble over leadership in the Bengal unit of the BJP tumbled out in the open on Monday as giant posters seeking the removal of the state general secretary (organisation) were seen near the party’s state headquarters and in other parts in central and North Calcutta.
Sources in the state unit ruled out any possibility of a change in guard at the helm.
The Bengal unit of the BJP has been witnessing an unprecedented spate of inner-party squabbling since the last month’s organisation reshuffle in which several prominent faces of the party were dropped from the state committee. What began as murmurs of dissent has now snowballed into a full-fledged noisy tussle between those at the helm of affairs and the team of dissenters, whose numbers are growing, are openly demanding removal of Chakraborty by calling him as the man of Prashant Kishore, Trinamul’s poll consultant, in the BJP.
“I can’t recall such loud demands for removal of a general secretary (organisation) of our party.... This is indeed unprecedented,” said a BJP insider referring to the last few day's development.
The post of general secretary (organisation), reserved for people coming to the party from RSS, has always been held “sacrosanct”, said the source.
Even as the demand for removal of Chakraborty, known as a low-key organisation man, grew louder, sources close to him said that the dissenters were overestimating their worth by orchestrating such public protests.
“It’s very clear that the dissidents have put up these posters... But let me tell you clearly that the central leaders don't attach any value to these dissenters. Besides, the central leadership is now busy with the polls in the five states and they don’t have time for all this,” a source close to Chakraborty said.
While those helming the state unit seem to be swatting away the possible impact of the dissent against Chakraborty, the dissident leaders said they would not relent soon and carry on with “their struggle”.
On Monday, several dissident BJP leaders — led by junior Union minister and Bongaon MP Shantanu Thakur —met in Bongaon on Monday on the pretext of a picnic and spent hours together. Four BJP MLAs—Asish Biswas, Subrata Thakur, Mukutmani Adhikari and Ashok Kirtaniya—and other dissenters such as Sayantan Basu, Ritesh Tiwari and Joy Prakash Majumdar, all of them were dropped from the state committee recently, attended the picnic.
“Today’s gettogether is a preparation for the Sansad Samparka yatra planned for every constituency. There will be a big battle in 2024. Those who once fought for us cannot be left in that battle,” Thakur said about Monday’s ‘picnic’.
“Every problem cannot be solved immediately…Currently there are situations which might harm BJP in future…The party’s leadership is busy with UP poll preparations, so they are not in a position to pay attention to Bengal…We’ve raised the issue in front of them…I have full faith in them. I am hopeful that they will solve it and find a way out,” he added.
The same group of dissenters had met on Saturday at a Calcutta Port Trust guest house. After the meeting, Thakur had accused Chakraborty of trying to bring the downfall of BJP in Bengal by conspiring with the Trinamul.
On Sunday, Thakur had met the members of the All India Matua Mahasangha—an umbrella organisation of the Matuas headed by Thakur—and asked them to hit the streets on the issue of delay in the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019.
When Majumdar was asked whether the picnic was organised as part of their strategy of keeping the dissenters together, he said the gettogether was a "social occasion”.
He also added the dissenters were not behind the posters that were seen in Calcutta.
“We don’t believe in this poster politics…It could be the other side (people close to Chakraborty) as well. They may have done this to gain sympathy,” Majumdar said.
Even as the poster politics kept the state BJP leaders busy, former state BJP president Tathagata Roy took to Twitter to echo Mamata Banerjee’s demand on the issue of the union government rejecting Bengal’s tableau on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose for the Republic Day parade.
“My appeal to the Prime Minister: please allow the West Bengal tableau in the Republic Day festivities. It features the exploits of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose whose organization of the INA shook the faith of the British in their army and hastened their exit,” Roy wrote, tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, he later clarified that his tweet was “only to showcase the contribution of Netaji and the freedom fighters of undivided Bengal” and “not to support TMC’s petty politics”.
The union government has rejected the Bengal government’s proposal of a tableau on the life of Netaji for the Republic Day parade in Delhi. Mamata has written a hard-hitting letter to the Prime Minister urging him to reconsider this decision.
State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, however, took a different stand. He said that the proposals for tableau are rejected on several grounds. “The proposals for several states other than Bengal have also been rejected,” he said.
Additional reporting by Subhsish Chaudhuri