John Barla, the BJP MP of Alipurduar, on Tuesday accused two prominent state-level party leaders of giving a wrong impression of him to the BJP central leadership for which he was denied a ticket to the Lok Sabha polls this time.

Barla fumed against BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari, who is the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, and MLA Manoj Tigga, whom the party has fielded from Alipurduar.

“Suvendu Adhikari, Manoj Tigga and some other leaders have wrongly briefed the central leaders about me. I am a victim of their conspiracy. Let me make it clear that I will not campaign for the BJP in the elections. The decision has left the tribal population in the Dooars disgruntled and they too will neither join the campaign nor vote for the BJP,” Barla said at the BJP office in Banarhat of Jalpaiguri on Tuesday.

Although an MP of Alipurduar, Barla hails from Jalpaiguri’s Lakhipara tea estate in Banarhat block.

Last week, the BJP announced the list of candidates for 20 of 42 Parliament seats in Bengal. Among these include candidates for five of the eight north Bengal seats. Here, Tigga, also the BJP’s chief whip in the Assembly, was made the Alipurduar candidate.

“Suvendu Adhikari has told the central BJP leaders that I have failed to develop the party’s organisation and trade union in the tea belt. This is
absolutely wrong. I have always worked for the tea population and managed to establish our trade union front across the Dooars. I want to see how he (Adhikari) manages to ensure the BJP’s win (in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar seats),” said Barla.

“Manoj Tigga has betrayed me in an unparalleled manner.... Even Trinamul didn’t go to such an extent against me,” he added.

Barla, party insiders said, is still at the helm of affairs of the BJP-backed tea trade union.

“He is from the tea belt and is accepted among the tribal community. If he resorts to counter-campaign or withdraws himself from the BJP’s campaign, it impact the tribal population, especially those in the tea estates across the Dooars,” said a BJP functionary in Jalpaiguri.

He pointed out that as Barla made his speech at the party office in Banarhat, his supporters clapped and cheered for him and sloganeed against the BJP.

In north Bengal, the votes of tea workers and their families largely decide the results of Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar Lok Sabha seats. In 2019, the BJP won both the seats.

Barla, when asked if he is planning to join any other political party, said he has not made any decision.

“I will continue to work on behalf of the trade union. If required, I will work with social organisations,” he said.

Tigga, when contacted for his comments on Barla’s charges of betrayal, said briefly: “Our central leadership selects candidates for elections. We, as individual party workers, have no say in it.”