KOLKATA: Fielding some heavyweights — BJP office-bearers and MPs from Bengal — in the last four phases of the Bengal assembly polls came up in the BJP core committee meeting held at party president J P Nadda’s New Delhi home on Wednesday morning.
This was hours ahead of BJP’s central election committee meeting at the party headquarters in the evening. Union home minister Amit Shah was present all through.
Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh and party’s national vice-president Mukul Roy were among the names floated in the core meeting, to strike a balance between veterans and newcomers because the party needed seniors to manage the BJP legislative party in the post-poll situation.
Party leaders said there was no decision yet and any such news would be “guesstimates”.
BJP sources, however, indicated that there was a proposal to field Mukul from Krishnagar Dakshin. While Trinamool Congress had won the constituency in 2011 and 2016 assembly polls, the party trailed in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with BJP ahead by over 6,000 votes.
Mukul loyalists hinted he was not willing to fight elections on health grounds. “His blood sugar level is high and he has trouble with his eyes too. But if the party wants him, he will certainly fight the election,” said a BJP leader close to Mukul.
Ghosh would like to spend more time on campaign and organization instead of contesting from a particular seat. His presence is crucial not just for Kharagpur Sadar seat but for a couple of adjoining assembly seats.