The stock of Suvendu Adhikari, leader of the Opposition in the Bengal Assembly, rose in the BJP’s Bengal unit after Union home minister Amit Shah’s two-day visit to the state.
Discussions at party headquarters on Muralidhar Sen Lane revolved around how much attention the Nandigram MLA got from Shah.
“Suvenduda was there with him (Shah) everywhere, from his chopper to his car. Amitji practically made it clear that Suvenduda is the face of the party in Bengal," a senior member of the party said.
Suvendu’s elevated status within the party was apparent from the moment Shah’s Bengal tour started.
In a departure from the convention in the BJP — where the party’s state president enjoys the highest authority — Suvendu was the first to receive and greet Shah when he landed at the Calcutta airport. The Nandigram MLA was followed by junior Union minister for home affairs Nisith Pramanik and finally by Sukanta Majumdar, the party's Bengal unit chief.
Suvendu accompanied Shah to Hingalganj and Haridaspur in North 24-Parganas, where he participated in BSF events. On Friday, he accompanied Shah to Tinbigha in Cooch Behar, at Cossipore in Calcutta, to a government event at Victoria Memorial and finally to a dinner invitation at the house of former skipper of the Indian cricket team Sourav Ganguly.
Suvendu was also present at a core group meeting of the BJP and the RSS on Thursday night.
Though Majumdar was also there, sources said his presence was ornamental.
“Sukantada had to be there with Amitji, since he is the state president. But that was mostly for protocol. He (Shah) spoke mostly with Suvenduda,” another source said.
The rise of Suvendu — who joined BJP after defecting from Trinamul in December 2020 and defeated Mamata Banerjee by a narrow margin in the 2021 Assembly polls in Nandigram — has not gone down well with some party old-timers.
These leaders pointed out that Majumdar’s predecessor and current national vice-president Dilip Ghosh was also ignored during Shah's tour.
“Dilipda had no invitation to any of the government programs. Sukantada was at least there. Can the party's top rung deny Dilipda's contribution in strengthening the party in Bengal?” a leader close to the Midnapore MP questioned.
A BJP source said the central leadership’s decision to give more prominence to Suvendu had a specific reason. “He defeated Mamata and the chief minister's dislike for him is well known. By giving him prominence, our leaders are also trying to provoke her,” said the source.
Task for legislators
BJP national general secretary (organisation) B.L. Santhosh has asked each party MLA to visit 25 of the weakest booths of his or her constituency and work to strengthen the organisation there. MPs have been assigned a similar task with 100 of the weakest booths in their constituency.
