The theory of conspiracy and sabotage against the BJP old guard popped up on Friday as party veteran Dilip Ghosh questioned whether he and former Raiganj MP Debasree Chaudhuri were shifted from their constituencies to make them lose.

"Were established leaders sent to other constituencies to make them lose? Or were there any other reasons?" asked Ghosh, the former state BJP president who lost from the Bardhaman Purba Lok Sabha seat.

Ghosh, who was elected from the Medinipur Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 89,000 votes in 2019, was given a party ticket to contest from a tough seat Bardhaman Purba, amid murmurs that his transfer was part of the party's infighting. Ghosh was replaced by BJP's Asansol MP Agnimitra Paul, who also lost in Medinipur.

Chaudhuri, who was the junior women and child development minister in Narendra Modi's cabinet for two years in 2019, was shifted from her constituency Raiganj and brought to Kolkata Dakshin — a known TMC stronghold.

"A logic was set that I'd lose if I contested from there (Medinipur). I was told that the Kurmi community was against me. However, we won in Purulia where Kurmis are the majority. Kurmis were provoked to go against me to shift me from Medinipur," Ghosh told reporters on Friday.

"Debasree was a minister and she worked in Raiganj. I told her that she would win, finally. The BJP has won there (Raiganj) and the person who won is a councillor of a municipality and not popular," Ghosh added, wondering why Debasree was shifted.

There is a buzz in the BJP that the central leadership chose candidates based on suggestions from Nandigram MLA Suvendu Adhikari, who joined the BJP before the 2021 state polls.

Bengal BJP's chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya refused comment. "If any words have to come, they'll come from the central leadership," he said.