Demonstrations, resignations and trading of charges in public continued to mar the Bengal BJP's ticket distribution exercise for the forthcoming civic elections to 92 civic bodies even as the State saffron leadership on Tuesday cracked the whip saying it would tolerate no indiscipline and accused rival outfits for creating trouble in the BJP by setting moles.
While Birbhum district president Dudh Kumar Mandal resigned from his post and South 24 Parganas (east) counterpart followed suit amid ticket-for-cash charges against the State leadership. Bengal BJP president Rahul Sinha said the party was keeping a close watch on the dissidents and accused "some outsiders from the Trinamool Congress and the CPI(M) who have sneaked into the BJP are creating trouble to malign our party's image."
He warned "no indiscipline will be tolerated and every one doing so is being watched closely" challenging Mandal to prove his allegations that tickets were being sold at the behest of some leaders in Kolkata.
"If he can prove his allegations then I am ready to accept the responsibility of such wrongful act" Sinha told the media men even as the protestors literally lay a siege of the State headquarters in Kolkata. While Mandal had resigned from his post on Monday, his South 24 Parganas counterpart Debotosh Acharya followed suit on Tuesday party sources said.
Sinha said, "We thought that these people will shout slogans and gradually their dissent will die down. So we allowed them to raise slogans. But now things are going a bit too far and the party will not tolerate this. Strong actions will be taken if such activities are not stopped."
Much like the ruling Trinamool Congress which was witnessing a large number of Independent candidates filing nominations both in North and South Bengal, the BJP aspirants were crowding the district offices and even the State office in Kolkata for the past a few days.
Demonstrations against alleged "selection of unsuitable candidates mostly in lieu of money" were being held at Siliguri, Kolkata, Siuri and elsewhere apparently causing a great deal of embarrassment for the party which was aspiring to displace the left Front as the main Opposition outfit.
At Siliguri, party men protested in before the house of district president Rathin Mandal demanding change of candidates in ward numbers 15, 22, and 25.
"The district and State leaders have not accepted the list sent of candidates sent by the ward committees. We had sent our lists but when the names of the candidates were declared we found that the names suggested by the ward committees have changed," said an agitating party man while the senior leaders tried to down play the agitation saying "such things happen when the party grows bigger."
While around March, 2014 the BJP had about 1 lakh members. A year later, its membership has grown to 33 lakh "so these things are common in a democratic party" said a leader.