After poll rout, WB BJP faces ‘revolt’
‘Random selection of celebrity candidates ruined party’
A massive internal revolt led by prominent leaders including two parliamentarians has engulfed the BJP in West Bengal for its failure to win the Assembly election and to protect its cadres from “getting slaughtered” en masse by the ruling Trinamul Congress workers in post-poll violence across the state.
On Tuesday party veteran Tathagata Roy questioned the random selection of a large number of celebrities as candidates and wastage of party funds after them in an explosive outburst that spared neither central leaders like Kailash Vijayvargiya nor state functionaries like Dilip Ghosh.
On a Facebook post, the former governor of Tripura and Meghalaya alleged, “Film and TV actors who never had anything to do with politics, let alone BJP, were handed tickets by BJP’s election management team.”
He then named three such candidates — Tanushree Chakraborty at Shyampur, Srabonti Chatterjee at Behala West and Payel Sarkar at Behala East — who were seen celebrating Holi during the polls on a vessel in the river Hooghly at the party of former minister and TMC candidate Madan Mitra, who however won at Kamarhati.
In a scathing attack, Mr Roy said, “These women were so politically stupid that they had gone on a steamer trip with TMC’s playboy-politician Madan Mitra less than a month before elections and shot selfies with him. All were roundly defeated. What great qualities were these women possessed of ? Kailash Vijayvargiya, Dilip Ghosh & Co must answer. It must not be forgotten that a BJP electoral ticket carries with it substantial money for running the election. Or for other purposes!”
Stunning many in the BJP however, it’s Rajya Sabha MP Roopa Ganguly demanded recounting of votes in the polls, like TMC chief Mamata Banerjee wants in Nandigram, and the imposition of the President’s Rule and deployment of the Army and the central paramilitary forces in the state.
She posted on Facebook, “#recountingForBengal Am #ashamed of the l behaviour by #tmc in my state of #WestBengal #We need #ARMY/ #CRPF to protect our
◗ A MASSIVE internal revolt led by prominent leaders including two parliamentarians has engulfed the BJP in West Bengal for its failure to win the Assembly election
ON A FACEBOOK post, former governor of Tripura and Meghalaya Tathagata Roy alleged, ‘Film and TV actors who never had anything to do with politics, let alone BJP, were handed tickets by BJP’s election management team.’
◗ #people here. Such political crime & killings can’t go on Commoners saying #PresidentsRulein Bengal.” But the most shocking admission came from the strongman of Barrackpore and it’s BJP MP Arjun Singh. In a candid confession he said, “We have 18 MPs in our party in the state. There are also 77 MLAs with us. Still we can not stand by our party workers. In my personal opinion, we should resign as public representatives if we can not protect our party workers.”
Hitting back at Mr Roy, Mr Ghosh, the state BJP chief and Midnapore MP, said, “I do not play the politics of an escapist. Someone can live in the world of imagination. But we fought the polls in reality and won a record number of seats which no one had imagined. We are still fighting to protect our party workers who fought for us.”
Srabonti also slammed Mr Roy, saying, “He is such an experienced and veteran party leader. How could he then make a distasteful comment against three of us, being women? Does he have any proof of us enjoying the party funds instead of contesting the polls? If he has, he should prove it.”