Bengal BJP’s immediate past president Dilip Ghosh said the state unit of his party needs a complete overhaul and a paradigm shift in the way things are done in the party, days ahead of a probable rejig in the organisation.

“I think a new state committee must be formed as soon as possible. I have been saying this since July and have communicated this to our national chief (J.P.) Naddaji… Everyone in the organisation, top to bottom, including me, must be changed. They’ve replaced me. Other changes must follow soon,” said Ghosh on Saturday evening.
The Midnapore MP, who is now one of the BJP’s national vice-presidents, also said a new policy is needed on how the state unit should function.

“When I was made the president, our party had nothing here. I worked in my own way, did what I had to do… But now we have so many MPs, the electorate has acknowledged us as the main Opposition party. Now, there must be a change in the way things are done here,” he said.

Ghosh didn’t elaborate on the changes, but sources close to him said he indirectly acknowledged that the BJP under him was regarded as a party “without refinement”. Many of Ghosh’s statements — regarded as “insensitive, ill-informed and violent” — did not go down well with most voters. Many of his statements were also regarded as laughable.

Sources in the party accepted Ghosh’s contribution of calling people to resist Trinamul-led “atrocities”. They said it was because of his “daredevil” image that the BJP was able to drastically expand its base in the state. However, they also admitted to the drawback of that approach in Bengal.

“The CPM was losing its base in Bengal as its leaders failed to protect workers against Trinamul-backed atrocities. Dilip-da came into politics at such a time and publicly called for a counterattack. People, especially in villages, liked that, trusted him and started following the BJP,” a state BJP functionary said.

“But the same approach made him a villain in the eyes of the educated, genteel sections, which are major influencers in Bengal. The Bengali bhawdrolok was scared that if someone like him had access to power, there would be bloodbath... It did affect our poll performance,” he added.

Another state leader pointed out that many of the cases of alleged post-poll results violence took place in areas where Ghosh and others from his team had publicly threatened to unleash violence on Trinamul after the BJP came to power. “When Trinamul swept the polls, their workers reacted violently to the threats by attacking our people,” he said.

Balurghat MP Sukanta Majumdar, a teacher, becoming Ghosh’s successor is indicative of the BJP trying to make itself more acceptable to the bhawdrolok, said sources. But the new committee is yet to be announced. Ghosh wants the changes soon, but Majumdar is yet to come up with a new list.