Bengal BJP’s minder Kailash Vijayvargiya, a leader who called the shots till May 2 afternoon, when it was clear that Trinamul was returning to power with a thumping majority, has apparently been reduced to an afterthought.

On Tuesday, the allegedly steady decline in Vijayvargiya’s importance was indicated in a meeting of the BJP’s Bengal MPs in Delhi.

According to multiple sources at the meeting that national joint general-secretary (organisation) Shivprakash attended, Vijayvargiya was not invited initially. It was as an afterthought, said sources, that BJP state general-secretary (organisation) Amitava Chakraborty suggested Vijayvargiya be called since he was in Delhi and was the party’s Bengal minder. Vijayvargiya, in charge of picking candidates, has been widely blamed for the poll debacle.

However, some believe he is being made a scapegoat so that blame doesn’t fall squarely on the shoulders of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.

“Till the early afternoon of May 2, Kailashji would convene meetings, he had the final say on most things, and we would only listen. It is funny how tables have turned so quickly. He was invited yesterday only because Amitavada didn’t want to disturb protocol,” said a BJP MP.

Two south Bengal MPs of the BJP, Asansol’s Babul Supriyo and Bongaon’s Shantanu Thakur were also conspicuous in their absence from the Delhi meeting.

This was only the second time since May 2 that Vijayvargiya was seen interacting with colleagues from the state unit directly. He met with the functionaries of the BJP’s state committee virtually on July 24.

Most leaders believe he made serious mistakes in choosing candidates that restricted the party to 77 seats, despite claims by Shah of 200-plus seats in Bengal.

What also went against him was the return to Trinamul of Mamata’s former trusted lieutenant Mukul Roy, a BJP national vice-president in whom Vijayvargiya had invested tremendous faith, despite repeated warnings from within the saffron camp that Roy could have been a double agent.

State unit chief Dilip Ghosh said: “The MPs were supposed to meet along with Shivprakash. They asked me whom else we should call, and I told them to call the observers.”

Amit Malviya, Vijayvargiya’s deputy, was also invited later and was present at the meeting. Arvind Menon, another co-minder for Bengal, was unavailable to join.

“All three of them were invited later, as an afterthought. But the fact remains that this is the first time that Kailashji’s name wasn’t the first on the list of invitees,” said a north Bengal MP of the BJP.