BJP leaders call Mukul Roy ‘Mir Jafar, opportunist’
WB BJP chief says anyone can go anywhere, it is their personal choice
The Bharatiya Janata Party, shattered by its national vice president Mukul Roy’s exit and his return to the Trinamul Congress, has become a divided house in West Bengal with a blame game between two camps amid a fierce internal revolt since its poll debacle in the state.
While one section slammed the party leadership for inducting Mir Jafars like Roy without any judgment ahead of elections, senior leaders alleged their rivals of having “no contribution” while downplaying the newly elected Krishnanagar North MLA’s defection as a “personal choice.”
Bishnupur BJP MP Saumitra Khan alleged, “We saw Mir Jafar in Bengal before independence. But now we are seeing them in politics. This type of people are never accepted. Had he been Chanakya in politics, he could have succeeded in ensuring the victory for his son Shubhrangshu from Bijpur Assembly seat this time. But he failed. Mir Jafar can not do anything good. They only can harm.” Another party MP Arjun Singh claimed that Roy was an “opportunist” who belongs to no organisation.
His party colleague Anupam Hazra posted on Facebook, “A pathetic outcome of extra jubilation over one or two leaders during election and sidelining and insulting the efficient through lobbying!!! Now the Royal Passengers of Chartered flights are also missing!!! Still time is there, the Bengal BJP should stop lobbying and engage the efficient leaders who are sidelined!!!”
State BJP president Dilip Ghosh, however, said, “Those who have no contribution in the rise of our party here are feeling sad. If someone fails to sing in the party’s tune, it is his personal problem, not of the party. Anyone can go anywhere. It is his personal wish. I do not know if there was hardly any gain for us when he was there. Our party remains intact.”
Darjeeling BJP MP Raju Bista said, “Mukul Roy is a senior and a seasoned politician, and his joining TMC is a reflection of his personal choice. The beauty of democracy is that people are free to choose. But sadly, today this freedom to choose does not exist in West Bengal. BJP is making space for democracy to foster again in Bengal and as the 2021 elections showed, BJP has grown stronger in the grassroots level in West Bengal and this momentum will continue unabated.”
Former MLA Shilbhadra Dutta, who defected to the BJP before the polls, said, “This is a personal choice. He did whatever he thought was best. I have nothing to say. But people develop a hatred towards politics when they see repeated switches by someone.”