Blame game and resignations have once again shaken the BJP’s West Bengal unit after a string of defeats in the by-elections.
On Saturday, the BJP lost the Asansol Lok Sabha seat to the Trinamool Congress by margin of over 3 lakh votes and finished third in the Ballygunge Assembly seat after the Trinamool Congress and the CPI(M).
Over the past two days, three party functionaries have announced their resignations, complaining that the leadership was not taking their views into account. Party MLA Gouri Shankar Ghosh tendered his resignation from the post of State Committee Secretary on Sunday. State party working committee members Bani Ganguly and Dipankar Choudhury too have resigned. Leaders from Murshidabad and districts like Nadia and Jalpiagurui have blamed the State leadership for the by-poll debacle.
Two senior leaders, Bishnupur Lok Sabha MP Saumitra Khan and party’s national secretary Anupam Hazra, called for introspection by the State leadership.
Mr. Khan, who has been vocal over the past two days, said its was the BJP’s weakness more than the Trinamool’s strength that led to the latter’s victory in Asansol. He said the State leadership was made up of “inexperienced leaders bereft of any political maturity” and called for a “medicine from Delhi” for setting things right.
Mr. Hazra said if things continued the way they were going, the “very existence of the party would be at stake in West Bengal”.
“If we do not discuss our shortcomings, then how will we overcome them? When dedicated people quit from their responsibility, it is not good for the party,” he said.
Responding to these allegations, BJP State president Sukanta Majumdar said that leaders could have differences, but “party discipline is supreme”. The resignations would be looked into. He dismissed the comments of senior leaders as “their personal opinion” and said the party would bounce back in the upcoming panchayat and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
This is not the first time BJP leaders in West Bengal have targeted the State leadership after a poll- debacle. The BJP which emerged as the main Opposition party in the State in the 2021 Assembly polls has failed to win a single by-poll held after May 2021.
The BJP’s performance in the civic polls have been disappointing and every time the party lost, a section of its leaders has targeted Mr. Majumdar and his team. Mr. Majumdar, who came into prominence after being elected from Balurghat Lok Sabha seat in 2019, was appointed State president in September 2021. A section of the party leaders believes that “he lacks political maturity to lead the BJP in West Bengal”.
The party’s national vice-president Dilip Ghosh, who had a long stint of five years as State BJP president, has called for taking collective responsibility for the electoral loss and said asked party leaders to desist from indulging in blame game.
