The BJP was gripped by dissent in Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri districts ahead of the Assembly elections, with sections of party workers protesting against the choice of candidates in the Cooch Behar South and the Rajganj constituencies.
Within 24 hours of the BJP announcing Rathindra Nath Bose as its candidate for the Cooch Behar South seat, posters surfaced in the Rail Ghumti area of the town against his nomination.
The posters, which were found plastered on Thursday morning, carried the message: “Jakey Khushi Takey Din, Bohiragoto K Baad Din” (field anyone you want, but remove the outsider). The posters were purportedly issued in the name of “neglected BJP workers of Cooch Behar”.
The BJP rejected the suggestion of infighting and instead blamed the Trinamool Congress for the posters.
Biraj Basu, a BJP vice-president of the district, termed the appearance of the posters a “motivated campaign” by the ruling party.
“Rathindra Nath Bose is a son of the soil of Cooch Behar. He spent his childhood and youth here. Labelling him an outsider is politically motivated. Trinamool is behind these posters to create confusion,” Basu said.
Trinamool has denied the charges. “The resentment against the candidate is the BJP's internal matter. We have nothing to do with these posters and our party does not engage in such activities,” said senior Trinamool leader Abdul Jalil Ahmed.
In the Rajganj block of Jalpaiguri, BJP workers demonstrated at Bagdogra demanding the immediate replacement of candidate Haradhan Sarkar, aka Dinesh Sarkar.
Haradhan was inducted into the BJP after leaving Trinamool, where he had served as the party's block president. Long-time BJP workers have accused the party leadership of overlooking their opinion.
“The Rajganj candidate was imposed from outside, without consulting the local leaders and workers. If the candidate is not replaced, it would impact the party’s performance in the elections,” said a protester.
They also demanded that a candidate from the Rajbanshi community be fielded in the seat, considering the local demographic composition.
“This demand was also ignored, and it has further intensified dissatisfaction within the party ranks,” said another BJP worker.
Arindam Banerjee, the Rajganj block president of Trinamool, said the BJP failed to find a suitable candidate to run against Trinamool's Swapna Barman. “They have fielded a former Trinamool leader. We are confident of winning the Rajganj seat by a margin of 50,000 votes,” Banerjee said.