Mukul Roy was felicitated on Sunday on his recent elevation as one of the BJP’s national vice-presidents, the guest list at the event proof that the former Trinamul No 2’s star was in the ascendant in the saffron camp.

The event, organised by another Trinamul turncoat Shankudeb Panda at the ICCR in Calcutta, saw the presence of almost all top state BJP leaders — Kailash Vijayvargiya, Arvind Menon, Swapan Dasgupta, Sabyasachi Dutta, Bharati Ghosh — but state BJP president Dilip Ghosh was conspicuous by his absence. Asked by this paper, Ghosh said he did not know about Sunday’s event.

Many believe that BJP’s in-charge for its affairs in Bengal, Vijayvargiya, is behind Roy’s rise in the party hierarchy.

During the two-and-a-half-hour-long event in the evening, BJP leaders heaped praise on Roy, affirming his increasing relevance in the party.

“Mukulda joined the party in 2017…today’s event was the first where he was formally recognised by senior leaders of the party,” said a party source.

“For the expansion of BJP in a state like Bengal it was important for us to have an election strategist like Mukul Roy. We had won 18 seats in the general elections last year under Mukulda and Kailashji,” Dasgupta said at the event. Menon echoed the compliment: “Mukulda is someone who knows Bengal down to the panchayat level like the back of his palm.”

Several BJP insiders said Roy’s rise in state BJP would now set the power structure in balance, which was otherwise tilted heavily in favour of Ghosh and party’s general secretary (organisation) Subrata Chattopadhyay.

“Dilipda and Subratada were not in favour of allowing Mukulda to have a say in the affairs of the state unit. National leaders recognised Mukulda’s value and gave him an important post,” an insider said.

Amid murmurs that the organisers of the event known for their proximity to Roy didn’t invite Ghosh, Panda refused to comment. However, he added that the Bengal unit stood united under Ghosh’s leadership. “Dilipda is our president. He is busy with his own programmes. There is no confusion regarding this,” Panda added.

Contacted, Ghosh said: “I did not know about today’s programme. It isn’t mandatory for me to stay in every event. He (Roy) has been appointed as an office-bearer and it is all right for people to organise his felicitation. I had already informed the party that I will be out of Calcutta till October 6.”

A senior party leader feared the Sunday felicitation would deepen the cracks. “It is natural that rifts between Mukulda and Dilipda will deepen after today’s event. But factional fights will surely harm the party’s prospects in the polls next year,” he said.

The only person who referred to Ghosh in his speech was Roy. “Dilipda won the polls and became an MLA just after he came into politics. Then he became an MP last year. He is meant to win,” Roy said.