News Analysis India

Tag: Bengal BJP

  • BJP’s North Bengal MLA Suman Kanjilal joins TMC

    By Express News Service

    KOLKATA: In a jolt to BJP’s north Bengal stronghold, an MLA from Alipurduar of the saffron camp on Sunday defected to the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

    Suman Kanjilal, a BJP MLA from the north Bengal constituency, joined the Trinamool Congress in presence of Abhishek Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress’s national general secretary and nephew of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.  

    With the defection of Kanjilal, BJP’s strength in the Assembly has come down to 69 from 77 as five other MLAs had joined the ruling TMC earlier. Two MPs, who had contested in the 2021 Assembly elections and won, decided to function as representatives in the lower house of the Parliament.

    “As an MLA, I want to work for the common people. I discussed it with the chief minister. I decided to join the TMC to work better for the people. I wanted to perform more when I was a BJP MLA using the schemes of the Union government. But I could not because many projects were stalled by the BJP-led Centre,’’ said Kanjilal.

    Kanjilal’s change in political allegiance is said to be significant ahead of the panchayat elections in the state.

    Though the TMC had secured a sweeping victory by bagging 214 seats out of 292 in the 2021 Assembly polls, the party failed to leave a footprint in the Alipurduar district as the BJP secured victory in all five seats.

    “The people who voted for the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and 2021 Assembly polls are disappointed. They realised there is no alternative political force other than the TMC which can offer good governance,” said a senior TMC leader, adding that there were more surprises waiting for the BJP in North Bengal.

    In the 2019 general elections, the BJP bagged 18 seats out of 42 in Bengal of which seven were from north Bengal.

    Previously, two other BJP MLAs from north Bengal – Krishna Kalyani of Raiganj and Soumen Roy of Kaliaganj joined the TMC at different times.

    Three other saffron party legislators from the southern part of the state, including former Union minister Mukul Roy, also switched sides.

    Lok Sabha MP and former West Bengal BJP vice-president Arjun Singh had also joined the TMC.

    KOLKATA: In a jolt to BJP’s north Bengal stronghold, an MLA from Alipurduar of the saffron camp on Sunday defected to the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

    Suman Kanjilal, a BJP MLA from the north Bengal constituency, joined the Trinamool Congress in presence of Abhishek Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress’s national general secretary and nephew of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.  

    With the defection of Kanjilal, BJP’s strength in the Assembly has come down to 69 from 77 as five other MLAs had joined the ruling TMC earlier. Two MPs, who had contested in the 2021 Assembly elections and won, decided to function as representatives in the lower house of the Parliament.

    “As an MLA, I want to work for the common people. I discussed it with the chief minister. I decided to join the TMC to work better for the people. I wanted to perform more when I was a BJP MLA using the schemes of the Union government. But I could not because many projects were stalled by the BJP-led Centre,’’ said Kanjilal.

    Kanjilal’s change in political allegiance is said to be significant ahead of the panchayat elections in the state.

    Though the TMC had secured a sweeping victory by bagging 214 seats out of 292 in the 2021 Assembly polls, the party failed to leave a footprint in the Alipurduar district as the BJP secured victory in all five seats.

    “The people who voted for the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and 2021 Assembly polls are disappointed. They realised there is no alternative political force other than the TMC which can offer good governance,” said a senior TMC leader, adding that there were more surprises waiting for the BJP in North Bengal.

    In the 2019 general elections, the BJP bagged 18 seats out of 42 in Bengal of which seven were from north Bengal.

    Previously, two other BJP MLAs from north Bengal – Krishna Kalyani of Raiganj and Soumen Roy of Kaliaganj joined the TMC at different times.

    Three other saffron party legislators from the southern part of the state, including former Union minister Mukul Roy, also switched sides.

    Lok Sabha MP and former West Bengal BJP vice-president Arjun Singh had also joined the TMC.

  • Twenty BJP leaders in Bengal’s Jalpaiguri resign from posts, allege irregularities in local panel formation 

    By PTI

    JALPAIGURI: Days after BJP MP Arjun Singh rejoined the Trinamool Congress, at least 20 saffron party leaders in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri have tendered resignation together from their party posts, accusing the district leadership of taking money in lieu of inducting members in a local panel, a party functionary said on Wednesday.

    The dissent leaders, including party’s Jalpaiguri district general secretary Amal Roy, claimed that those who had worked for the saffron brigade and fled their homes due to the post-poll violence in the state did not get a place in the newly formed Maynaguri South Mondal committee.

    Roy alleged that the posts of the local panel have been handed out in lieu of money to those who were inducted into the party recently.

    “The dissent leaders have submitted their resignation letters to the district chief,” he claimed.

    When contacted BJP’s Jalpaiguri district president Bapi Goswami refused to make any comment on the allegations.

    The development came weeks after Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during his visit to West Bengal, had advised the BJP state unit to strengthen the party organisation in order to put up a fight against the ruling party.

    BJP’s state unit spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya denied the allegation of new members being inducted into the local committee in lieu of money but admitted that there are “differences of opinion in the organisation” “The party will look into the matter and the problem will be sorted out soon,” he said.

    Notably, Jalpaiguri is a stronghold of the BJP as the party bagged four of seven constituencies in the district in the last assembly elections.

    Singh had on May 22 rejoined the state’s ruling party.

    One of the prominent Hindi-speaking leaders of the TMC, Singh had joined the saffron camp ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, and went on to win the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat.

    The BJP in the state has been fighting hard to keep its flock together after former Union minister Babul Supriyo and five legislators, including national vice-president Mukul Roy, switched over to the TMC since the assembly poll results last year.

    Several senior TMC leaders like Rajib Banerjee and Sabyasachi Dutta, who had joined the saffron camp, too, returned to the Mamata Banerjee-led party.

  • Ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit, Bengal BJP faces heat of discontent

    By Express News Service

    KOLKATA: Less than a week to go Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit the state, the BJP’s West Bengal unit continued to face the heat of discontent within the party as 15 functionaries of Barasat organisational committee in Kolkata’s adjoining North 24 Parganas district tendered resignation in one go on Sunday.

    The dissent among the party leaders surfaced at a time when the BJP high command issued a dictate directing the state chapter to rejuvenate the party’s internal dispute and build up united image ahead of Shah’s visit starting from May 4.

    The saffron camp had started facing erosion within the party since the debacle in the by-elections, in which the party failed to retain the Asansol Lok Sabha seat.

    Three MLAs, including the state secretary, had stepped down from the state hierarchy and 14 district level functionaries in Nadia had tendered resignation within 48 hours of the results of the by-elections reflecting the saffron camp’s poor show.       

    “All the dissidents expressed their discontent against the district president accusing him of favoritism and elevating “incompetent” faces shunning the party’s old and loyal workers. They, including a Mandal president, also held the top leadership of the district committee for failing to win a single ward in Barasat civic body,” said a senior BJP leader.

    In the mass resignation letter, the dissident BJP workers accused Tapas Mitra of being involved in anti-party activities.

    “He not only gave priority to those who are close to him. Besides, he is hand in gloves with Trinamool Congress leaders and helped our rivals to get electoral gain in the civic polls,” said Shyamal Roy, one of the functionaries who resigned on Sunday.  

    Mitra, however, denied all allegations.

    Sukanta Majumdar, BJP’s state president, said, “None of the district committee functionaries, who tendered resignation, talked to him on the issue of their grievance. I will talk to them and sort out the issue.”

    During his visit, Shah will hold a meeting with the party functionaries in Kolkata on May 6 where the state unit will explain the reasons behind the debacle in the by-elections.

    “The discontent is expected to surface in Shah’s meeting which will not be a comfortable situation for the state leadership,” said the BJP leader.

  • None becomes seasoned overnight, Bengal BJP chief on Dilip Ghosh’s ‘new’ leader remark 

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Days after BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh said Sukanta Majumdar, who succeeded him as the party’s West Bengal unit president, is relatively new for his post, the incumbent state chief on Sunday asserted that none becomes seasoned overnight.

    Majumdar, the MP of Balurghat in north Bengal, said that every person is new when appointed to a post and Ghosh was no exception when he became the state party president for the first time in 2015.

    Ghosh, however, struck a conciliatory note during the day saying he had meant that being new for the post, Majumdar will be able to impart a fresh approach and give a dynamic leadership to the state BJP.

    Majumdar, who had declined to comment initially, said: “Dilipda is a senior leader, but let me point out that when someone first takes over, he is new to the post. None becomes experienced overnight.”

    “When Dilip-da had been appointed as the state BJP head, he was relatively new. It happens to every occupant of every post,” he told reporters to a question.

    Ghosh had said on Thursday that Majumdar should take everyone along and the party should work as a united force to be able to fight against the alleged misrule of the Trinamool Congress.

    “Sukanta Majumdar is comparatively new; it is quite obvious that he is taking time to adjust,” he had said.

    His comments were preceded by the party’s recent debacle in by-polls in the state, following which several senior BJP members hit out at the state unit leadership for allegedly failing to identify the “lacunae” plaguing the party.

    However, Ghosh said on Sunday: “what I meant was Sukanta Majumdar being a fresh face helming the BJP in West Bengal will be able to give a new thrust to the fight against the Trinamool Congress.”

    “Everyone has his own style of functioning. I am ready to extend all cooperation to Sukanta. We have been working in unison,” he told reporters.

    Majumdar replaced Ghosh as the state party unit chief in September 2021, months after the BJP faced an electoral drubbing in the assembly election.

    However, Ghosh became the national vice-president then.

    The party also did not fare well in later elections and its internal bickering came to the fore.

    TMC candidate Bollywood actor Shatrughan Sinha defeated the BJP’s Agnimitra Paul by over 3,00,000 votes in the Asansol Lok Sabha by-election.

    Former Union minister Babul Supriyo, who quit the BJP to join the TMC last year, clinched the Ballygunge assembly seat in Kolkata in a by-poll, beating his nearest CPI(M) rival by 20,228 votes.

    The BJP came third there. 

  • Infighting within Bengal BJP spreads to another stronghold

    Express News Service

    KOLKATA: Infighting within the Bengal BJP has spread to Junglemahal from the Matua-dominated pockets — both strongholds of the saffron party — as five party MLAs from Purulia district have written to BJP national president JP Nadda urging him to change the district presidents who were elevated in the recent rejig. Two MLAs from adjoining Bankura district, too, have made the same request.

    Sources in the BJP said the MLAs individually wrote to Nadda expressing their discontent on the issue of inducting new faces in the party hierarchy.

    “Many of them also left the social media group of the party,” said a BJP leader.

    The saffron camp’s deep inroads in Bengal first came to light in Junglemahal, which was earlier a Maoist stronghold and had turned into TMC’s bastion after the change of guard in the state in 2011, after the local body polls in 2018. 

    “The discontent among the MLAs from Junglemahal is significant because it is the only region, other than the Matua stronghold, where the party performed better in the last year’s Assembly elections. The back-to-back rebellion in the backward region may prove to be a double whammy for the party,” admitted a BJP leader.  

    A dissident MLA said he has sought “respect to old functionaries”.

    “At the same time, we have also requested to give opportunities to newcomers, instead of turncoats,” he said.  

    “Many leaders, who were axed from the party hierarchy in the recent reshuffle, have expressed their discontent publicly,” the legislator from Junglemahal region added.

  • Union minister Shantanu Thakur quits Bengal BJP’s WhatsApp groups

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: In a major embarrassment to BJP, Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shantanu Thakur, and a leader of the politically powerful Matua community has quit all WhatsApp groups of the party’s state unit.

    Thakur, the union minister of state for shipping Tuesday told reporters “It seems the state BJP leadership does not think we (Matuas) have an important role within the organization.”

    He also wondered if he was of any importance to the BJP state unit any more.

    Thakur, who refused to say anything else, did not take phone calls by PTI.

    His stance along with the move by 5 BJP MLAs earlier last month to quit party WhatsApp groups places a question mark over their future course of action, said analysts.

    The 40-year-old politician is the Sanghadhipati, All India Matua Mahasangha, an influential Matua community body.

    The Matuas who form one of the largest groups in the state’s border districts of North and South 24 Parganas, Nadia and elsewhere have in recent times been split in their voting intentions between the BJP and the TMC.

    The scheduled caste community has considerable clout in at least four Lok Sabha seats and 30-40 assembly seats and has sizable following in neighboring Bangladesh too.

    The Bongaon MP had a few days back voiced his reservation against omission of some MLAs of the Matua community in the reconstituted BJP state and district committees.

    He had, however, said he remained loyal to the party.

    Reacting to the development, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said “We will sort out any misunderstanding with Shantanu Thakur.

    He is very much a part of the BJP family.

    ” When asked to comment, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy told reporters that the BJP had used Matua community for its own electoral gains.

    “But it (BJP) was not concerned about their real development.

    It is clear now,” he added.

    Over a week ago five BJP MLAs – Mukutmoni Adhikari, Subrata Thakur, Ambica Roy, Asok Kirtania and Asim Sarkar had expressed their displeasure over their omission from the state party committee and left the WhatsApp group of MLAs of the saffron party.

    Adhikari had said that the aspirations of the people of his constituency may not be fulfilled by the newly formed BJP state committee.

    Ambica Roy had, however, expressed his wish to rejoin the BJP WhatsApp group on December 27, two days after quitting it and said he would sort out any difference with the party.

    The community was wooed by the ruling TMC in the state and BJP alike before the state election and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had even visited Orakandi, the ancestral village of the sect’s founder Harichand Thakur during his March 2021 visit to Bangladesh.

  • Bengal BJP asks TMC government to slash state tax on fuel

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: The West Bengal BJP on Thursday stated that the Mamata Banerjee government should reduce VAT on petrol and diesel, taking a cue from the Centre, if it was serious about being pro-people.

    The TMC, however, termed the Centre’s decision to slash excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 per litre respectively a “mere eyewash”.

    Describing the Centre’s move as a “Diwali gift to the nation”, Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, took to Twitter, and said, “Now the WB Govt should follow suit and slash state tax to further bring down the rates.”

    BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh tweeted that the TMC government, “which claims to be pro-people”, has its task cut out to reduce VAT imposed by it on petroleum products.

    The party’s state president, Sukanta Majumdar, also made a similar demand.

    Claiming that the slash in excise duty is “nothing but an eyewash”, TMC state general secretary and spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, nonetheless, pointed out that the meagre reduction was announced after the rates hit the roof.

    “They should bring down the main price component,” he tweeted.

    The TMC leader contended that the Centre levies higher tax on petroleum products than the state and as such the reduction in excise duty wouldn’t have much bearing on the Union government’s exchequer.

    He further alleged that the Centre gives BJP-ruled states more funds when compared to those which have opposition parties at the helm.

    “The BJP-ruled state governments get their dues from the Centre on account of the taxes it levies, but Bengal remains deprived,” Ghosh said, iterating TMC’s allegation that the Union government metes out a “step-motherly treatment” to the Mamata Banerjee government.

  • Mamata demolishes BJP in Bengal; Himanta, Nitish and NDA allies salvage reputation elsewhere 

    By PTI

    KOLKATA/GUWAHATI: The TMC and the BJP-led NDA swept the assembly bypolls in West Bengal and Assam, steamrollering the Opposition that crumbled before the ruling parties powered by redoubtable Mamata Banerjee and Himanta Biswa Sarma.

    Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress got a ringing endorsement by the electors as it won all the four seats, including two that it wrested from the BJP, which surrendered rather meekly after a creditable performance in the March-April assembly elections when it won 77 of the 292 seats where polling was held.

    TMC candidates not only polled more than one lakh votes each in Dinhata, Gosaba, Khardaha and Santipur, but also the party’s vote share stood at a staggering 75.02 per cent against BJP’s measly 14.48 per cent.

    Udayan Guha, who wrested Dinhata seat vacated by Union Minister of State for Home, Sports and Youth Affairs Nisith Pramanik by a margin of over 1.64 lakh votes, polled 84 per cent votes against his BJP rival Ashok Mondal’s 11.31 per cent.

    TMC’s Subrata Mondal trounced his BJP rival Palash Rana by over 1.43 lakh votes in Gosaba, clinching 87.19 per cent votes against a paltry 9.95 per cent polled by the saffron party candidate.

    TMC’s Braja Kishor Goswami wrested Santipur from the BJP, defeating Niranjan Biswas by 64,675 votes.

    Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, a Mamata Banerjee confidante who had vacated the Bhabanipur seat for her to contest in a by-poll earlier, won from Khardaha defeating his BJP rival Joy Sinha by 93,832 votes.

    The TMC’s triumph not only added more insult to injury the BJP faced in the general election but also buttressed Banerjeee’s already strong claim to lead a broadbased anti-BJP opposition alliance, if at all it is formed ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

    “My heartiest congratulations to all the four winning candidates! This victory is people’s victory, as it shows how Bengal will always choose development and unity over propaganda and hate politics. With people’s blessings, we promise to continue taking Bengal to greater heights!” Mamata Banerjee said in a twitter post.

    Taking a dig at BJP’s defeat, her nephew and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee tweeted, “A cracker free Diwali in true sense. Wishing folks at @BJP4India a very Happy Diwali!” West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar blamed the defeat on the “reign of terror” unleashed by the TMC.

    “Margin of more than one lakh in by-polls is unimaginable. We can very well understand the kind of terror that was unleashed by the ruling party to stop people from voting freely and fairly,” he said.

    The resounding victory is expected to add more lusture to Banerjee’s personal charisma and public appeal as the TMC tries to expand beyond West Bengal to new territories like Goa and Tripura in the run up to the 2024 parliamentary elections.

    Though Banerjee struck a heavy blow to the BJP in West Bengal, a charismatic Himanta Biswa Sarma led the NDA to a power-packed performance in neighbouring Assam, clinching all the five seats along with its ally UPPL.

    The BJP won Bhabanipur, Mariani and Thowra seats, while the UPPL bagged Gossaigaon and Tamulpur in the Bodoland Territorial region.

    All NDA candidates won with impressive margins.

    The BJP had fielded Phanidhar Talukdar, who had left the AIUDF after getting elected to the assembly in the general election, from Bhabanipur and Congress defectors Rupjyoti Kurmi and Sushanta Borgohain from Mariani and Thowra.

    In a reflection of the uncanny political sense of Sarma, who has emerged as the BJP’s pointsman for the entire northeast, all the three won.

    The BJP and ally UPPL bagged around 54 per cent of votes polled.

    “Today’s victory is both humbling & reassuring and we promise to continue path of Vikas as per vision of Hon PM Sri @narendramodi. My gratitude to people & our karyakarta. @TheUPPLOfficial is NDA’s valued partner & the win today highlights enormous faith of people in vision of Hon PM @narendramodi who is resolute in his commitment to take Assam to glorious heights,” Sarma wrote in a series of tweets.

    Barring its abject defeat in West Bengal, the BJP and its allies were on song elsewhere in the east and the northeast where bypolls were held on October 30.

    In Bihar, where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) was locked in a prestige fight with Lalu Prasad’s RJD, the ruling party retained both the seats.

    It won Kusheshwar Asthan by a margin of over 12,000 votes and bagged Tarapur by more than 3,000 votes after a see-saw that lasted till the dying moments of counting.

    The National People’s Party-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance won all the three seats in the state.

    The NPP of Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, a BJP ally, wrested Rajbala and Mawryngkneng seats from the Congress, while its alliance partner in MDA government United Democratic Party won Mawphlang.

    The ruling Mizo National Front (MNF), also an NDA partner, won the bypoll to the Tuirial assembly seat in Mizoram, wresting it from the opposition Zoram People’s Front.

  • Bengal BJP leader Sabyasachi Dutta returns to TMC as secretary general

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: BJP state secretary and the former mayor of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Sabyasachi Dutta, who had quit the TMC to join the saffron camp two years ago, returned to the Mamata Banerjee-led party on Thursday.

    He joined the state’s ruling party at TMC secretary general and cabinet minister Partha Chatterjee’s room in the Assembly, in the presence of other leaders.

    “We inducted Dutta in the party, as per his request, on the very day our leader Mamata Banerjee took oath as an MLA. She has approved Dutta’s induction into the party,” Chatterjee said.

    Dutta, on his part, claimed that some misunderstanding had prompted his exit from the TMC, but that has now been resolved.

    He asserted that he would humbly take up any role offered to him by the TMC.

    “From 2011 to 2021, I was an MLA. I held the post of BMC mayor for several terms. There was some misunderstanding within the party. But that has been cleared. My new journey with the TMC begins from today,” he added.

    Dutta lost the Bidhannagar seat to TMC’s Sujit Bose in the April-May Assembly elections.

  • BJP suffers big setback as another MLA from north Bengal quits party

    Express News Service

    KOLKATA: The BJP on Friday received another jolt in its north Bengal stronghold as the MLA from Raiganj in North 24 Dinajpur, Krishna Kalyani, announced his resignation from the party on Friday. The resignation came a day after the saffron camp sent Kalyani a showcause notice for speaking against the party’s Raiganj MP and former Union minister Debasree Chaudhuri.   

    Earlier, Kalyani had accused Debasree of hatching a conspiracy against him. 

    “I cannot work in the same party where the Raiganj MP is. I worked for the people and in return, I have been issued a showcause letter. People of Raiganj hardly see the MP’s face but she is being awarded. It is better to quit the party,” said Kalyani. 

    The MLA, however, did not disclose anything about his future course of action or whether he would join any other political party.    

    BJP’s state president Sukanta Majumdar requested Kalyani to return to the party. “I would like to request him to consider his decision and come back. The issue can be resolved by holding dialogues,” he said. 

    Last month, Kalyani had expressed his displeasure against BJP leadership saying he would take a decision on his political future shortly if his grievances were not addressed. Referring to the defection of MLAs from the party, he had also said those leaving the party must have serious grievances that have not been taken care of. 

    Since the Assembly elections, four BJP MLA defected to the TMC reducing the saffron camp’s legislative strength to 71 from 77. Two sitting MPs, who won in the Assembly polls, resigned as they decided to continue as lawmakers in the Parliament.