Kolkata:

A birthday meet and greet at the Leader of Opposition’s office within the West Bengal assembly has set off speculation of a possible patch-up among rivals in the state BJP.

Former West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh was at Suvendu Adhikari’s office in the assembly, and Mr Adhikari was seen offering sweets to Mr Ghosh on his birthday. Several MLAs seen to be close to Mr Adhikari were also present.

Within the party, Mr Adhikari and Mr Ghosh are said to be rivals. Bouquets were also presented to Mr Ghosh, under whose stewardship the BJP won 18 seats in the Lok Sabha in 2019. In 2024, that tally fell to 12.

After the 2021 assembly election defeat, Mr Ghosh was dropped as state president and was sidelined, according to political observers, and the party leadership was entrusted to Sukanta Majumdar, who has now become a Union Minister.

Mr Adhikari quit the Trinamool Congress and joined the BJP ahead of the 2021 assembly election in West Bengal.

Mr Ghosh had been speaking out after the Lok Sabha elections and many believed his cryptic messages were targeted at Mr Adhikari.

A guarded criticism – seen as directed at Mr Adhikari – was from Mr Ghosh, who led the state party during the 2019 general election and achieved far better results.

Earlier in a post on Facebook, Mr Ghosh quoted former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, some of whose maxims are still considered gold standard by the party.

“Keep one thing in mind, even one old karyakarta (party worker) of the party should not be neglected. If necessary, let 10 new karyakartas get separated. Because the old workers are the guarantee of our victory. Trusting new karyakartas too quickly is not advisable,” the post read.

The BJP is likely to appoint a new state unit chief after the induction of Sukanta Majumdar in the Union Cabinet. Sources said the BJP has not reached a decision on Mr Majumdar’s replacement yet.

One of the speculated names is Mr Ghosh, who now seems to be on friendly terms with Mr Adhikari.

Kolkata:

The West Bengal BJP, which political analysts claim is grappling with internal discord, organisational shortcomings and resurgence of the Left-Congress alliance, takes on the daunting task of securing 35 Lok Sabha seats in the national elections, hinging on CAA implementation as its key to achieve its target.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP put up a stellar performance in West Bengal, clinching 18 seats and securing 40 per cent of the vote share. Buoyed by its success, the party has set an ambitious target of winning 35 seats in this election.

While the party heavily relies on the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it also seeks to reap the benefits of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, although political analysts warn that CAA could prove to be a “double-edged sword” for the BJP.

They opine that the CAA could unite the Hindu community, but also provoke a backlash from minority groups.

The BJP’s prospects in West Bengal also rely heavily on the momentum of the Left-Congress alliance, which has been progressively gaining strength across the state’s 42 Lok Sabha constituencies.

West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said the party is not only hopeful but confident that it would win 35 seats in the state.

However, a section of the BJP leaders pointed out a host of both internal and external challenges that the saffron camp faces in the state on its path to achieving its target.

“The biggest challenge for the party lies in getting its organisation, which has been in tatters since the 2021 assembly polls debacle, in order. We still don’t have people to appoint booth agents in more than 80,000 booths in the state,” former BJP national secretary Anupam Hazra said.

Hazra, who shares a strained relationship with the present state leadership, claimed that internal conflicts and a lack of grassroots-level coordination have impeded the BJP’s efforts to consolidate its position in the state as reflected in the series of electoral losses since the 2021 assembly poll defeat.

Since 2021, eight MLAs and two MPs have shifted allegiance to the TMC. Only one among them, MP Arjun Singh, has returned to the BJP.

In 2019, the BJP secured 40 per cent of the vote share. However, in the 2021 assembly polls, this dropped slightly to 38 per cent. Despite a growth from 10 per cent vote share and three assembly seats in 2016 to 77 seats in 2021, they failed to seize power.

The decline in vote share began with the Bhabanipur bypoll, where it dropped from 35 per cent in May 2021 to 22 per cent in October of the same year, and this trend has persisted.

In elections to 108 other civic bodies, the BJP only managed to garner 12.57 per cent of votes.

In last year’s panchayat polls, the party secured 22 per cent of the vote share securing the third position, just one per cent less than the Left-Congress-ISF alliance.

The resurgence of the Left-Congress alliance further complicates the BJP’s electoral strategy, posing a formidable challenge to the party.

Until 2021, the shift in votes of these parties to the BJP had contributed to the saffron party’s growth in the state.

After the 2021 assembly polls, however, the Left and Congress witnessed a revival with their alliance wresting the Sagardighi seat from the TMC in the 2023 assembly by-election.

A BJP leader said the re-emergence of the Left-Congress-ISF alliance might hinder the consolidation of anti-TMC votes in the saffron party’s favour, especially in south Bengal constituencies.

“As the Left and Congress did not fight the 2019 polls in alliance in West Bengal, we had a clear path to garner the entirety of the anti-TMC votes. However, in a three-cornered contest, these votes are likely to be divided,” remarked the senior BJP leader.

“A triangular contest could, however, also offer opportunities to the BJP in certain seats, particularly if minority votes are divided. The impact of the Left-Congress-ISF alliance was evident in minority-dominated seats, as seen in the Sagardighi bypoll,” he said.

The consolidation of anti-TMC votes led to a remarkable surge in the BJP’s vote share from 17 per cent in 2014 to 40 per cent in 2019, while its seat tally rose from two to 18.

While the TMC’s vote share increased by three per cent to reach 43 per cent, the count of its parliamentary seats declined from 34 to 22.

The BJP leaders, however, hope to capitalise on polarisation in the majority community, particularly in Matua-dominated constituencies, by leveraging CAA as a pivotal issue.

Majumdar asserted “CAA will help the BJP sweep the elections in the state”.

On the flip side, the BJP, which does not have a robust organisational strength like that of the TMC, has not been successful in countering the TMC’s campaign on the ground against the CAA that it would take away citizenship.

Making things worse, the All India Matua Mahasangha, a key organisation of the Matua community, has advised its members to apply for Indian citizenship under the new law only after the new government assumes charge at the Centre.

“The TMC is trying hard to mislead the masses on CAA, but they won’t succeed,” Majumdar said.

The BJP is also banking on the Sandeshkhali issue, where locals have accused TMC leaders of sexually abusing women in the area.

In north Bengal, a strong base for the BJP which had won seven of the eight seats in the region in 2019, there is growing dissatisfaction over the distribution of tickets.

Political scientist Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury said that the impact of implementing the CAA is still unclear.

“BJP could either benefit from the CAA or it could backfire,” he said.

Political analyst Subhomoy Maitra said the BJP’s electoral performance depends on how the Left-Congress alliance performs.

“The alliance’s potential to cut into anti-TMC votes in the state holds the key to BJP’s success,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kolkata:

Senior BJP leader from West Bengal, Dilip Ghosh, on Sunday said that India will be renamed as Bharat and statues of foreigners in Kolkata will be removed.

The Medinipur MP said that those against the change of name can leave the country.

Speaking at ‘Chai pe Charcha’ programme in Kharagpur city, which falls under his constituency, the former BJP national vice president said, “When our party comes to power in West Bengal, we will remove all statues of foreigners in Kolkata.” “India will be renamed as Bharat. Those not liking it are free to leave the country,” he said.

Rahul Sinha, another senior BJP leader from the state, said a country cannot have two names and this is the correct time to change the name as world leaders are present in New Delhi to attend the G20 summit.

Trinamool Congress spokesperson Santanu Sen alleged that the BJP was trying to “divert attention from real issues as it is afraid of the opposition INDIA alliance”.

Opposition parties led by Congress have formed the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to take on the BJP in Lok Sabha polls due next year.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)