BJP banks on a new team to counter TMC

nNEWDELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that has been at loggerheads with the Trinamool Congress government over the latter’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has now picked a new team in West Bengal, with known Mamata Banerjee-baiters getting key positions.

“It is a mix of the old and the new to take on the state government. For the 2021 assembly polls, these faces will lead the campaign against the Trinamool government’s 10 year-misrule,” said a senior functionary.

On Monday, state unit president Dilip Ghosh announced the names of BJP’S new state leadership--12 vice-presidents, five general secretaries, and 10 secretaries—which is seen as a major rejig in the state unit ahead of the polls. Members of the Lok Sabha, Arjun Singh, who represents Barrackpore, Locket Chatterjee who represents Hoogly, and Bishnupur MP Saumitra Khan, who are known for their fiery speeches and often controversial stances are part of the new team. While Khan has been made in charge of the Yuva Morcha; Singh is now a vice president and Chatterjee is the party’s general secretary. “These young MPS are West Bengal’s voice in Parliament and now they will be the faces of the party on the streets,” said the functionary quoted above.

In the new team, BJP has accommodated Khangen Murmu and Dulal Bor; who joined the BJP from the CPIM and Congress respectively. Khan, Singh and Sabyasachi Dutta were part of the TMC before switching to the BJP for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Even as the state has been engaged in fighting the pandemic and in relief work following the cyclone Amphan, the BJP has kept up the pressure on the state government.

Political commentator Kumar Rana however said the BJP’S attempts at drawing a parallel between the state and the Centre’s response to the pandemic will not cut ice. “States have no money, so TMC government cannot be singled out. The BJP is trying to create a stir,” he said.