Post bypoll debacle, rift in Bengal BJP ranks for roping in outsiders

KOLKATA:  Sharp rift in the BJP’s West Bengal chapter surfaced following the debacle in the recent 
by-elections in four Assembly constituencies, in which the saffron camp failed to retain two of its seats.

Differences between the party’s organisational leaders and elected representatives emerged after the high-command assigned party MLAs to oversee the by-poll keeping aside the district-level leaders.

A section of party functionaries said the MLAs, who were tasked to secure impressive results in the by-elections, were from outside and they were not familiar with the constituencies where the by-polls were held.

"MLA from Hooghly’s Arambag Madhusudan Bag was assigned to oversee the by-election in Gosaba, South 24 Parganas. He never participated any electoral activities in this district, a Trinamool Congress’s citadel. He took more than two weeks to develop good contacts with the district-level leaders."

"The electoral characters of the voters of the constituency was completely unknown to him. As a result, our party bagged only 9.95 per cent votes and the TMC won by a huge margin of 1,43,051 votes. Our vote-share dropped by more than 31 per cent comparing to BJP’s performance in the 2021 Assembly elections,’’ said a BJP leader.

Similarly, the MLAs from north Bengal was tasked to take care of Khardah Assembly seats where the BJP too faced a debacle as the TMC won by more than 90,000 votes    

The saffron camp lost its deposit in both Gosaba and Khardah along with Dinhata in Cooch Behar out of four seats where by-poll was held.

The BJP managed to save its deposit only at Shantipur in Nadia, a constituency dominated by Hindu refugees migrated from Bangladesh.  

Lone bastion

The BJP managed to save its deposit only at Shantipur in Nadia, a constituency dominated by Hindu refugees migrated from Bangladesh.