Apparently taking lessons from the Mukul Roy episode the BJP is planning a bigger role for its Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari who had crossed over to the saffron party from the Trinamool Congress months before the Assembly
elections.
“The BJP leadership is planning to afford Suvendu Adhikari a status equal to that of State president Dilip Ghosh … this will be made official after a party meeting next week,” a senior leader said adding he will now be given a greater say and control over the party affairs.
Before quitting the outfit, Roy, a former national vice president of the BJP, had expressed dissatisfaction about his being ignored in the party. His supporters openly claimed that despite playing a big role in the BJP’s good show in the 2019 general elections when the BJP got 18 seats and lost a couple of more seats by a wafer thin margin Roy was increasingly pushed to a corner in the party.
Meanwhile, with Roy exiting the BJP its lesser leaders and workers continued to quit the outfit in various districts of Bengal.
While at least 3,000 BJP men and 38 local leaders from Asansol in West Burdwan district on Sunday joined the Trinamool Congress accusing the saffron leadership of “deviating from its principles,” many more party men quit the outfit in Nadia district.
“I had been a BJP member since the year 2000 … I joined the party then with great hopes and relied on its principles but now things have changed … The BJP has become a thoroughly corporatised party where money speaks,” said one of the block leaders who joined the TMC on Sunday alleging how tickets were sold before the elections for lakhs.
“Rs six lakh was demanded for giving nomination ticket in the State elections … there were many instances of such sale of tickets taking place,” the leader said adding further that the party also made an unwritten rule not to give tickets to no-Bengali candidates. “It was strange that the non-Bengali candidates were ignored during distribution of tickets … It was strange that the non-Bengali voters would be expected to cast their votes for the BJP but when it would come to distribution of tickets they would be ignored … this is a simple use and throw politics … so we thought it better to join the TMC where Mamata Banerjee does not go back on her works.”
However, refuting his statements district BJP president Laxman Ghorui said “BJP never took money for tickets … it can be proved by the fact that a daily-wager’s wife was given ticket at Saltora in Bankura and she won the seat from there.”