BJP censures Dilip Ghosh for remarks on West Bengal unit

KOLKATA: BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh drew flak from the party brass, this time in the form of a censure, for shooting his mouth off against senior state functionaries, including Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, that had "caused embarrassment to the central leadership".
In a letter to Ghosh from BJP headquarters in-charge Arun Singh, "on the instructions" of party president J P Nadda, on Monday, the party took note of Ghosh's recent interview and said: "Your comments in the electronic media and perhaps on other forums have been openly critical of senior state functionaries. Such comments will only hurt and harm the party and negate your own hard work in the past."
"While your commitment to the party has been absolute, there have been some avoidable instances when some of your statements or outbursts have anguished the state party leaders and have also caused embarrassment to the central leadership," the letter said, conveying the BJP central leadership's "deep concern".
The party brass asked Ghosh to be "discreet", considering the "sensitivity" of the situation. "I wish to convey to you the party's deep anguish... I sincerely hope you would appreciate the sensitivity of the situation, particularly in West Bengal, and shall always remain more discreet in your dealings with the... media or any public forum," the letter further said.
In Midnapore on Tuesday, Ghosh said the letter had not reached him yet. "I will respond only after I receive the letter," he added.
The censure letter was issued more than a month after Ghosh, in a TV interview on April 21, called his successor Majumdar "inexperienced".
"He (Majumdar) has got responsibility recently and has less experience... The party has been fighting in Bengal for a long time. There are experienced organizers who built up movements, earned the trust of the public and helped take the party to where it stands now. Their experience should be used," Ghosh had said while responding to the growing dissent in BJP ranks after the continuous slide in Bengal following the 2021 assembly polls.
Ghosh had also pointed to the lack of planning in Bengal BJP that left much to be done for it to prove a worthy opposition. "There is some deficit. It could be on the planning side. Maybe, the zeal of party leaders is lacking. None of the party workers has left. There is, however, a section that had joined for some time and then left the party," he had said.
Majumdar had "no clue" about the party letter. "I have not been informed by the Delhi office. I am outside Kolkata now and do not know anything about it," he said in Alipurduar.